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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 the first thing the children decide to do to make the attic more suitable?

2. Who first comes down with a terrible cold in Chapter 9?

3. Who tries to reassure everyone that their mother isn't lying to them at the end of Chapter 6?

4. How do the children and their mother travel to the grandparents' home?

5. Who builds the twins a swing to play on in the attic?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the Dollanganger children's mother tell them about her father in Chapter 1?

2. How is the schoolroom the children find in the attic described?

3. How do the twins react when the grandmother gives them a mean speech in Chapter 5?

4. What does the Dollanganger children's mother do at her husband's desk just after his death?

5. How does the Mother try to encourage Cathy's love of dance in Chapter 8?

6. What is the nature of the mean speech the grandmother gives to the children in Chapter 5?

7. What happens when the children play hide and seek in the attic during winter?

8. What does Cathy wish about her grandfather at the end of Chapter 3?

9. How does the Dollanganger children's father die in the book?

10. How is the Dollanganger family's trip to Virginia described in the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Rules are integral part of the children's lives in the mansion, and also tell a lot about the nature of the grandmother's character. Part 1.) What can we learn about the nature of the grandmother based on the rules she makes the children adhere to? Part 2.) What impact do the rules of the mansion have on the way the children grow up? Part 3.) What flaws are present in the rules of the mansion, and why is the grandmother not able to recognize this?

Essay Topic 2

Wealth is an important theme throughout much of the book and controls how many of the characters act. Part 1.) What role does money play in the mother's life and why does she appear to need it so badly? Part 2.) How does the grandmother use her wealth as a way of controlling the Mother and the children? Part 3.) Based on the impact wealth plays in the lives of the book's characters, what conclusion might the author want the reader to come to regarding the nature of wealth?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the portrayal of puberty in the book. How was Chris and Cathy's experience with puberty flawed due to their being locked in the attic together?

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