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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. How does Virginia describe her mother's death?

2. How did Virginia's mother show her controlling nature?

3. What did the editor hope to show people by publishing these writings?

4. What was the name of the most important sister to Virginia?

5. What does the editor say is different about A Sketch of the Past when compared to Reminiscences?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Virginia say a lot of Jack's grief over Stella's death stemmed from, and what helped him with that?

2. How did Vanessa respond to her stepfather's changing moods?

3. How did Virginia define a snob?

4. What did Virginia do early in her career to make herself a better writer?

5. Why does Virginia say it was hard to fully understand and write about her mother?

6. Why was Virginia friends with Sybil Colfax?

7. Why did Virginia choose to write A Sketch of the Past?

8. Why did George stop paying any attention to Vanessa?

9. How did Stella compare physically with her brothers?

10. What did Virginia notice about her own memory?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Shame and propriety are common themes throughout this book. What are some of the instances where these themes are present, and why were they so important to the people involved?

Essay Topic 2

Friendship is a strong theme throughout the book. Where are some places that this theme appears, and how did the people touched by it react? How did certain friendships change over the course of the book, and what caused these changes?

Essay Topic 3

Diversity was a major theme in this book as many different lifestyles and ranks in society were involved. How is this theme shown in this book, and why do you think the author felt it was so important?

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