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 are the houses surrounded by?

2. Why do the tutors say the men are being held captive?

3. After descending the cliff, what does the men follow?

4. What surprises the explorers about the women in town?

5. What do the men decide to leave on the motorboat?

Short Essay Questions

1. What impresses Jeff after he has awoken in Chapter 3?

2. Describe the women who meet the men in the town center in Chapter 2.

3. What does Vandyke lament at the beginning of the story? Why does Vandyck refuse to reveal the location of the country he speaks of?

4. What do the women get the men to admit about keeping dogs as pets?

5. Where do the women take the explorers after they reach the town center? What happens when the men try to fight the women?

6. In the past, what happened to all of the men in the women's society?

7. What do the men see from the plane in Chapter 1?

8. Why do Vandyck and his friends believe there must be men in the society? Where do they suppose the men might live?

9. What is awaiting the men when they awake and leave their room in Chapter 3?

10. What is Social Darwinism?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the character Terry. What are his defining character traits? What does he think of Herland? How does he fare while there? Why is he banished?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the differences between Herland and the men's society. What are some of the differences? How do the women react to these differences? How do the men react? Why do the men sometimes become embarrassed because of their society?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze Gilman's use of foreshadowing in "Herland." What are some examples of foreshadowing in the novel and what are these examples hinting at?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,040 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample