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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When they are all laughing about the idea of a ghost, what does it mean that Mary "noted a certain flatness of tone in Alida's answering hilarity" (83)?

2. In section "V," who comes to visit Mary?

3. Ned asks Alida a question about the ghost's "signalement" (84). What is he asking about?

4. What does Mary learn from the contents of the envelope?

5. In Mary's mind, what is the only possible source of information about what has happened to Ned?

Short Essay Questions

1. What strange conclusion does Mary come to about the relationship of the ghost to the house, Lyng?

2. How does the narrator describe the life that the Boynes had in America?

3. What do the Boynes tell Alida Stair about why Lyng's drawbacks are not problems from their point of view?

4. After she finds out that he has gone out with the mysterious man and not yet returned, why is Mary immediately alarmed?

5. What does Ned tell Mary about the Blue Star lawsuit?

6. In the beginning of section "IV," how much time has elapsed since Ned's disappearance, and what has been happening in that time?

7. What happens with the mysterious visitor on the day that Ned disappears?

8. What does Mary remember happening earlier in the day in October when she and Ned first climbed Meldon Steep?

9. On the day of his disappearance, what is so frustrating for Mary about her conversation with her staff about where Ned is?

10. What is the name of Ned's book, and what is the thematic significance of this title?

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

No one in the story is explicit about what happened during the Blue Star Mine scandal, although Parvis does explain in general terms how Ned cheated Bob Elwell. Write an essay that takes and defends a position about why this is. What does the story gain by being vague about the exact sequence of events, and what would it lose by taking up more space explaining what happened? Offer specific textual evidence to support your claims.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that proposes and supports a claim regarding the causes of Mary and Ned's downfall. What are the implications of everything that has happened for Mary's life after the story ends? Who or what is most at fault? Give textual support for your claims.

(see the answer keys)

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