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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. Why is everyone concerned about Larry being around Shelley?

2. What is Lyman's fear?

3. What is the next job offer that Oliver gets?

4. What sad news does Augusta's first letter to Susan in New Almaden include?

5. Why was Thomas Hudson a frail and sickly man?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Susan's transformation into a western woman exemplified in this chapter?

2. What characteristics are further brought out once Susan joins her husband in New Almaden?

3. How is Susan's embarrassment with her husband's social abilities highlighted in this chapter?

4. Why is Lyman so uncomfortable around Shelley?

5. How are the scenes in this chapter different from all the ones before and after as far as the marriage between Oliver and Susan?

6. Is Susan a good caretaker?

7. Why do Lyman and Al become better friends in the present than they were as children?

8. Explain how Susan and Oliver reach a certain angle of repose while living in New Almaden?

9. How is Shelley's problem with her husband similar to Susan's problems with Oliver?

10. What is Susan's attitude towards her marriage and new life in this chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the themes of this novel, and did the author express them well?

Essay Topic 2

What qualities did Susan admire in Augusta that she herself did not have? How did Susan shape her life to be more like Augusta's life? What did Augusta have that Susan wanted?

Essay Topic 3

How does Susan maintain her genteel style of living even in the wild west? Give specific examples and why these items or styles were important to maintain the gentility.

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