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. What is scary about the playhouse door?

2. In 'Strange Little Girls' in the story 'Bonnie's Mother,' what has happened to Bonnie's mother?

3. What else do they want from her?

4. What is this person traveling to present a paper on?

5. At a cafe, how does the narrator identify himself?

Short Essay Questions

1. Is the playhouse evil or magical, or was it just the narrator's imagination?

2. Why does the poet cast aside all his possessions and his old life in the poem 'Going Wodwo'?

3. Why does the writer in 'Forbidden Brides...' enjoy writing about Amelia making toast?

4. Describe the character of Miss Finch.

5. Why do you think the narrator gives up his old life, and why does he pretend to be the professor?

6. In 'Bitter Grounds' why does the man become a demon?

7. What do the characters in 'Strange Little Girls' have in common?

8. Why does Runt decide to go into the farmhouse at the end of October's story?

9. Describe the things that happen to the character Amelia Earnshawe in 'Forbidden Brides...'

10. In the last story in 'Strange Little Girls,' two alternate stories are offered about a woman who lived during the war. Which one offers the happier ending?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss lessons in the stories and poems in this collection. Which poems and stories contain a moral? What kinds of morals or lessons are taught, and are they repeated in different stories? Do you think this is the author's own view?

Essay Topic 2

In some of the stories and poems in this collection, the author plays with characters and stories that belong to other authors and other books. Discuss one or two of these, and explain what he has changed and what he has left the same. Has he included any surprises or twists? Is the story or poem effective, or does it seem to have deviated too much from the feel of the original? What is the author trying to achieve with these stories? Stories and poems you could choose to discuss include 'A Study in Emerald,' 'Harlequin Valentine,' 'The Problem of Susan,' 'Goliath' and 'Inventing Aladdin.'

Essay Topic 3

How is fairyland represented in the stories and poems in this collection? What does the author have to say about magic?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,913 words (approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample