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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. Why is Abigail away from home for almost a year?

2. Why does Abigail cry after the birth of her second child?

3. Who tells Abigail that she's not "beholden" to the Howland home?

4. What is the last name of the cousins that Abigail goes on an outing with once or twice a month?

5. As a child, where does Abigail go stay for almost a year?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain why the townspeople are angry at the grandfather for not bringing his daughter's body home for burial from Santa Fe?

2. What does Abigail remember about the first part of her life?

3. How does Margaret know that spring has come in the Book of Margaret?

4. What is the story of the hoop snake?

5. Describe the house that Margaret grows up in.

6. Describe Somerset County.

7. Describe the only act of affection between her grandfather and Margaret that Abigail witnesses.

8. How does Margaret behave after her children leave for boarding school?

9. What does Margaret's first bedroom at the Howland home look like?

10. What are Margaret's earliest memories?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe what the author means by "keep your heart ticking under the sheltering arches of your ribs."

Essay Topic 2

At the end of the first section, Abigail admits that if she were to be honest, she would wish that Robert weren't alive. Discuss this statement. Does this make Abigail evil?

Essay Topic 3

Identify five examples of racial tension in "The Keepers of the House," and analyze them.

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