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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. What did Mary and Ned discover about their roof?

2. What event causes Mary to temporarily forget about the mysterious man they saw in October?

3. In the opening of the story, what is Mary waiting for?

4. What does Ned's motive seem to be when he first brings up the subject of whether the house has a ghost?

5. For the past week, what has Mary been assuming is the cause for Ned's need to be alone and his odd mood?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What news does Mary learn from a newspaper clipping that someone sends her in the mail, and why is she so upset by it?

4. What horrifying chain of events does Mary understand once she sees Bob Elwell's picture?

5. What is Mary doing on the morning that Ned disappears?

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

7. Why does Parvis come to see Mary near the end of the story?

8. In the narrative present at the beginning of the story, where is Mary and what is she doing?

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

10. What draws the Boynes to England?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the meaning of the expression a "hothouse flower"? Look up this term and then write an essay that explores the meaning of the way Mary spends her time on the day of Ned's disappearance. Be sure to offer textual support for your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that explores the narrative voice of "Afterward" and takes a position on how this narrative voice contributes to the story's overall effect. Be sure to give specific textual evidence for your position.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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