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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 is significant about the day the novel opens?

2. About what do Lockton's guests speak openly?

3. What is officially discovered a few days after Isabel talks to Colonel Regen?

4. What does Isabel whisper outside the window at Bellingham's home?

5. Where does Isabel go after the Locktons are asleep?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Madam Lockton convince the soldiers to do and how does she seems about everything else being searched?

2. Who does Isabel take the list she stole to and why does she choose that person?

3. What does Isabel do to protect Ruth's innocence.

4. How does Ruth act about the fall she has in the kitchen, and what does Ruth not seem to understand?

5. Why does Isabel ask the pastor for work?

6. What does a soldier find when he searches the linen chest?

7. What happens when Isabel goes and talks to Colonel Regen?

8. What happens the morning after Isabel made a report to Curzon?

9. How does Mr. Lockton flee his home, and what does he do when his wife tries to go with him?

10. What worries Isabel about Ruth being around Mrs. Lockton regularly?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

It is interesting to note Isabel's struggle in naming herself on the forged pass. She knows she is not a Finch or a Lockton. She considers naming herself after her mother or father as a way of honoring their memory, but she no longer wants to be tied to the past. She is looking forward, embracing her new, free future. She renames herself Isabel Gardener for her favorite memories of home: tending to the garden, the growing new life. Keen readers may remember the seeds Isabel tried to grow when she first moved to the Lockton home. Like Isabel's hopes for freedom, the new growth was crushed during a battle and never replanted. Now, Isabel is figuratively replanting those seeds and waiting to watch her future blossom.

1. Why do you think it matters what name Isabel puts on a false pass? Use examples from "Chains" and your own life to support your answer.

2. Discuss, in depth, why names are important to people. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Discuss the symbolism of Isabel liking to grow life considering the hardship in her life. Use examples from "Chains" and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the following:

1. Who is/are the protagonists of the story and why?

2. Who is/are the antagonists of the story and why?

3. Which three secondary characters have the greatest impact on the plot?

4. Are any of the characters dispensable and which ones? Why or why not?

5. Do you think this is a character-driven plot or an action-driven plot? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Over the course of "Chains", Isabel grows as a person in both complexity and understanding. "Chains" might be considered a slice of Isabel's "coming of age" story. It might be said that "Chains" is a "bildungsroman" of Isabel. Discuss the following:

1. Define Bildungsroman, or "Coming of Age," and give several examples from literature you have read.

2. Trace and analyze the character of Isabel as he changes from a more carefree, innocent girl to a wiser, young woman. What are the significant events that change Isabel?

3. After thoroughly analyzing Isabel's growth throughout "Chains", do you think Chains could be considered Isabel's Coming of Age story? Why or why not?

4. Are there any other characters in "Chains" who go through a Coming of Age experience? Who? Why do you think so?

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