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. Where does Abner Carmichael live?

2. When William comes across a still, the whiskey is aging in ______________.

3. When William is called to war, where does he go?

4. What is quiet and still and dry in the first chapter?

5. What is like "stain on a sponge"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the content of "The Keepers of the House" organized?

2. Describe the land that William Marshall Howland claims.

3. Why is the November evening so quiet and final?

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

5. How does William live his life after the death of his wife and son?

6. What caused the "ugly smears" in the sky in October in the first section?

7. What does the narrator say in the first section that indicates that she might be lonely?

8. What are Abigail's younger children doing as she stands on the porch?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss ways that this book may be view as dated. Be certain to address belief systems and attitudes. Is there anything that still rings true today?

Essay Topic 2

Has Margaret ever felt love in her life? If so, from whom? How is this love demonstrated? If a child doesn't feel love, what can be the result?

Essay Topic 3

At the end of the book, Abigail has taken steps to enact her revenge. She demonstrates that she is the one in power. If she is indeed, in power, then why does the book end with her unraveling into tears?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 740 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample