Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. From what period is Ned and Mary's new home?
2. When section "III" opens, Mary is spending the morning working outdoors. She goes into the area where the "espaliered" pear trees are (89). What kind of pear trees are these?
3. When does Mary first realize that Ned is missing?
4. Why does Mary have a hard time seeing the details of the man's appearance on that day in October?
5. What does Ned say, on page 83, must be true for him to believe a house is old?
Short Essay Questions
1. What horrifying chain of events does Mary understand once she sees Bob Elwell's picture?
2. What does Mary remember happening earlier in the day in October when she and Ned first climbed Meldon Steep?
3. How does the narrator describe the life that the Boynes had in America?
4. What does Alida Stair tell the Boynes about Lyng?
5. What news does Mary learn from a newspaper clipping that someone sends her in the mail, and why is she so upset by it?
6. How has Ned's mood changed on the morning after he and Mary first discussed the Blue Star lawsuit, and what does Mary believe changed his mood?
7. Why does Parvis come to see Mary near the end of the story?
8. What happens with the mysterious visitor on the day that Ned disappears?
9. In the beginning of section "IV," how much time has elapsed since Ned's disappearance, and what has been happening in that time?
10. What do Mary and Ned plan to do with their time at Lyng?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Write an essay that examines the final sighting of Bob Elwell's ghost. Why does Wharton take up space with the elaborate procedure of questioning various maids? Why not simply have Trimmle be the one to see the mysterious visitor? Why have any of the maids see him at all? What is the significance of the slip of paper, and why do the exact details of the encounter matter so much to Mary as she thinks back over Ned's disappearance many months later? Make a claim about how the choices Wharton makes regarding the ghost's final appearance impact the meaning of the overall story.
Essay Topic 2
Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the purpose of the story's structure. Why does it begin with the moment that it begins with? How are flashbacks used, and why? What periods of time are narrated in detail, and which are compressed, and why? Offer textual evidence for your claims.
Essay Topic 3
Write an essay that takes and defends a position about the emphasis Wharton gives to the physical evidence of Ned's emotional state. What is happening when he seems anxious, and what is happening when he seems relieved? From whose perspective is all of this shown, and why? How do these choices contribute to the story's overall meaning and effect? Be sure to support your claims with specific textual evidence.
|
This section contains 1,142 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
