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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 does Lewis do after Hammerhandle talks to him in Chapter Seven?

2. What does Chapter Eight say is Lewis' future profession?

3. What does Lewis think he sees at the end of Chapter Seven?

4. What does Uncle Jonathan say the omega sign means in Chapter Six?

5. What do Lewis, Uncle Jonathan, and Mrs. Zimmerman find in Chapter Ten behind the coal bin?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Lewis feel sick in the beginning of Chapter Seven? What does he realize he has done?

2. What does Lewis do when he realizes Mrs. Izard is behind them in Chapter Ten? What does he do?

3. What do Uncle Jonathan, Mrs. Zimmerman, and Lewis find when they return home in Chapter Six? What do they find inside?

4. What happens in December that worries Uncle Jonathan as said in Chapter Seven?

5. What does Lewis find in an organ in Chapter Eight? What does this object say?

6. What does Lewis go to do in Chapter Nine? What does he learn there?

7. Why do Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman say Isaac Izard needed a clock in Chapter Eight? What else went wrong with Izard’s plan?

8. How does Tarby react when Lewis tries to talk to him in Chapter Nine? What does Lewis do?

9. What does Uncle Jonathan do when the car starts to follow them in Chapter Six? What part of the car reminds Lewis of something, and what does it remind him of?

10. Who moves in across the street from Barnavelt’s Folly in Chapter Seven? How is this person known in town?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The American Gothic’s connection to nature is usually one of fear. What representation of nature is found in the novel? How is magic connected to nature and vice versa? Write three pages with at least four textual examples.

Essay Topic 2

Think about the trio of Lewis, Uncle Jonathan, and Mrs. Zimmerman. Who are their characters individually and how do they work together as a complete whole in the novel? As Lewis has recently lost his family, how do the residents of Barnavelt’s Folly create a new family dynamic? Write three pages with four textual examples.

Essay Topic 3

Light and dark dichotomies are typically used in the Gothic to illustrate good versus evil. How does the novel use this typical color palette to heightened literary effect? Find two examples from the text to support your response. Then look at how the novel uses other colors. What other colors and forms of light does the novel incorporate? How does it create a new palette of the Gothic and why does it do this? Make sure to consider that Barnavelt's Folly has had two recent owners. Use at least four examples in four pages for your overall answer.

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