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. To what do Mary and Ned attribute the great beauty they see in England?

2. According to Alida, what is unusual about the ghost at Ned and Mary's new house?

3. When Mary finally catches up with Ned on that October day, what is he doing?

4. When Mary searches Ned's desk, to whom does she find he has been writing?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

6. What draws the Boynes to England?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

Write an essay that affirms, refutes, or denies the proposition "Although Edith Wharton had enlightened ideas for a woman of her time and social class, her short story 'Afterward' demonstrates that her thinking was still limited by her time and social class." Be sure to give clear textual support for your reasoning.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,035 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample