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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which statement best describes the Pyncheons in the years after losing their fortune?
(a) They descended into corruption and avarice.
(b) They became very religious and charitable.
(c) They rebuilt their fortune with grit and determination.
(d) They moved to Maine and started new lives.

2. What does Phoebe find in the garden?
(a) A packet of old documents.
(b) A family of chickens.
(c) The bones of an animal.
(d) A broken down carriage.

3. Who is Uncle Venner?
(a) Holgrave’s employer.
(b) Hepzibah’s uncle.
(c) A kindly neighbor.
(d) The Pyncheon’s lawyer.

4. What does Hepzibah do after she opens the shop for the day at the beginning of the novel?
(a) She invites the Judge to tea.
(b) She takes a break in the garden.
(c) She sits down and weeps.
(d) She takes inventory.

5. What does Holgrave suggest about the Judge?
(a) He appeares cynical and jaded.
(b) He appeares pious and humble.
(c) He appeares capable of a great crime.
(d) He appeares charismatic and appealing.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the Pyncheons lose that cost them a vast fortune?

2. What seems to occur with every generation of Pyncheons?

3. What is Clifford’s state of health?

4. Whom does Phoebe meet in the garden?

5. What does Phoebe discover Hepzibah doing one morning?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the Puritan-era legal battle over the land the house sits on.

2. What do Hepzibah's feelings towards the Judge seem to be?

3. Describe Holgrave and Uncle Venner.

4. Who is Phoebe and how does Hepzibah react to her arrival?

5. What tragedies soon afflicted the Pyncheon family?

6. Describe the events surrounding the murder that was committed 30 years before the start of the story.

7. After the Colonel's death, what happened to the Pyncheon family?

8. Describe Phoebe's first visit to the garden.

9. What does the Judge try to do?

10. Describe some of the "eerie" qualities of the House.

(see the answer keys)

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