View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what direction has the sun set at the beginning of "The Keepers of the House"?

2. Who says, "Wind's to the west"?

3. Where does William's daughter go to college?

4. What had William hunted as a boy for a quarter for each skin?

5. Where are the Robertsons rumored to build the latest addition to their business?

Short Essay Questions

1. What has survived the frost in the first section to Abigail's surprise and how?

2. What is Abigail's reasoning for watering the geraniums so late in the season?

3. Describe Abigail, William's daughter, as a child.

4. Describe Lorena Adams.

5. What is the appearance of the front yard in the first section/chapter?

6. Explain the term Freejack.

7. Immediately after Lorena's death, what plants does William notice?

8. What delays William's trip into the swamp to find the Robertson's liquor still?

9. In addition to the month being stated, what other clues about the season is the reader given in the first paragraph?

10. Describe the land that William Marshall Howland claims.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain why, in your opinion, that the author jumps from the beginning of William and Margaret's relationship to the fact that "She bore him five children, all told. Three of them lives, two girls and a boy." Why is more of their relationship not shown to the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Abigail's relationship with her husband from her perspective. Be certain to discuss how her opinion of him changes.

Essay Topic 3

In reciting the history of the Howlands, deaths are treated matter-of-factly and with little emotion. While the scene of Lorena's death carries little emotion, it is described with great detail. Why is this significant?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 782 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample