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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. When Hal arrives back at Trepassen House, she is told that how many guests have departed in her absence?

2. A diary entry included in Chapter 22 features which character's return home during a break from Oxford?

3. Which character lends Hal a jacket for her walk to the village of St. Piran?

4. Hal believes by the end of Chapter 30 that the only way she will find out the identity of her father is if she travels to what location?

5. What obstacle would Hal have if she were required to buy her own ticket back toward Trepassen House?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who confronts Hal when she is making her escape from Trepassen House by way of the drawing room window and what do they say?

2. For what reason do Ezra and Hal arrive late to the appointment with Mr. Treswick?

3. Describe a chapter that acts as a builder of tension and then as a diffuser of tension, for the purposes of maintaining suspense throughout the work.

4. What feelings does Hal express to Ezra about the prospect of finding her biological father and how do they differ from her true feelings?

5. When Hal gets back to her flat in Brighton in Chapter 28 and finds a diary in the box under her bed, what does she learn?

6. In Chapter 24, Hal announces to the Westaway family at Trepassen House that she has made what decision?

7. How does Hal sustain a physical injury in Chapter 38?

8. To which two questions is Hal determined to find the answers by returning to Trepassen House?

9. Who is Lizzie?

10. How does the theme of self-deception arise within the narrative in Chapter 31 when Hal speaks to Harding from Brighton?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose an object from The Death of Mrs. Westaway, such as the magpies, Maggie’s diary, or some other symbolic object and discuss its overall meaning and its connection to themes within the text.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Discuss Ware’s use of the motif of water within the novel The Death of Mrs. Westaway.

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