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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. On page 84, the reader learns about the "prodigious windfall" that Ned and Mary experienced. Where did this "prodigious windfall" come from?

2. When Mary, startled by the envelope's contents, cries out and rises to her feet, how does Ned react?

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

4. What is Ned's joking theory about why the ghost is so hard to see?

5. On that evening in the library in section "II," what does Mary see has happened when she looks up from preparing the tea?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What do Mary and Ned plan to do with their time at Lyng?

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

5. What draws the Boynes to England?

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

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 appropriateness of Dorset as a setting for "Afterward." Use textual support in your defense, and be sure to cite any outside sources in MLA format.

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This section contains 1,091 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample