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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 arriving in town that night?

2. What kind of month does the author say October is for boys?

3. What do the boys use to look out at the carnival?

4. Who does the boy yell for?

5. What happens to the merry-go-round when Will flicks the switch?

Short Essay Questions

1. What disappoints the boys about the carnival the next day?

2. What does the reader learn about Jim in Chapter 9?

3. How does the salesman find out whose house the storm will hit?

4. What does Miss Foley say she saw in the Mirror Maze?

5. What wakes up Jim and Will during the night?

6. What does Mr. Halloway see in the shop window on the way back from work?

7. How does Jim react when he enters the Mirror Maze?

8. How do Jim and Will react differently to the carnival poster?

9. How does Mr. Halloway react when Will notices him looking at the carnival poster?

10. What does the lightning rod look like?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES is part of the horror genre.

1) What are the conventions of the horror genre in terms of character, language and plot?

2) In what way does SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES help to set the template for similar novels? Do modern novels still use the ideas used in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Examine good and evil in the novel.

1) In what way does Jim represent neither good nor bad in the novel? How does this result in a power struggle between the carnival and Jim's friend, Will?

2) What does say about Bradbury's ideas that God and religion does not seem to hurt Mr. Dark?

3) What is Bradbury's definition of evil?

Essay Topic 3

Examine Bradbury's writing style. How would you describe his prose style? What kind of vocabulary does he use? Does he use any specific writing techniques? What meaning does Bradbury's style give to the story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 749 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample