View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. While she is thinking it over in the library, where does Mary finally decide the blame lies for Ned's distracted, anxious mood?

3. From what period is Ned and Mary's new home?

4. What is the name of Mary and Ned's house?

5. What does Ned say, on page 83, must be true for him to believe a house is old?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that examines the issue of unearned privilege in "Afterward." How far does the story go in its critique of Mary and Ned's lifestyle? Might it have gone further? You may choose to also use evidence about Wharton's own life, depending on the scope of your thesis; if you do so, be sure to cite your sources in MLA format.

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 966 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample