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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. The charitable donations box shaped like an ice cream cone changes in what way as Hal walks away from it in Chapter 6?

2. How many children do Harding and his wife Mitzi have together?

3. Which character notices the tattoo peeking out of Hal's shirt and asks to see the whole tattoo?

4. Hal often insists to her clients that the tarot cards are not what metaphorical object?

5. Maggie's diary entry included in Chapter 18 describes the father of her baby's eyes in what way?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the three Westaway brothers' three different reactions to the news that Hal is Maud's daughter.

2. What drastic change in Hal's life occurred just before her 18th birthday?

3. How did the drastic change just before Hal's 18th birthday transform her life?

4. What alarming development happens at the funeral for Hester Westaway?

5. What meaningful item does Hal keep on her mantelpiece and what does the object symbolize?

6. What severe mistake does Hal nearly make when talking to Freddie, Harding's 12-year-old son, for the first time?

7. How and why does Abel's reaction to the news about the inheritance differ from his brother Harding's reaction?

8. How does the theme of trust enter the narrative within the diary entry featured at the end of Chapter 10?

9. What does the narrator mean with the claim that Hal tells her clients not only what they wanted to hear, but "What they needed to know as well" (24)?

10. Which elements of Hal's accommodations within Trepassen House does Hal find creepy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Ware’s novel The Death of Mrs. Westaway. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Read a lengthy interview with Ware. Write an essay explaining the connection between several of Ware’s answers and a major theme presented within the text of The Death of Mrs. Westaway.

Essay Topic 3

What is the function of Ezra’s character within the novel? Discuss the characterization methods used by Ware in depicting Ezra and include in your discussion the reasons that Ware portrays Ezra in these particular ways.

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