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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. What does Miss Strangeworth tell Helen Crane about her worries?
(a) She should talk with her baby's doctor.
(b) They are just another example of the anxieties Helen has always had.
(c) All babies develop differently.
(d) She should talk with her husband.

2. Why does Miss Strangeworth fail to notice the important detail about her letters?
(a) She notices that a car has turned down the street and is getting close.
(b) One of the younger children bumps into her.
(c) She is busy thinking about sending a letter to Dave Harris's father.
(d) Linda Stewart begins sobbing again.

3. The narrator says that Miss Strangeworth's letters "dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion" (424). What is this saying about suspicion?
(a) It is the kind of thing that people argue about.
(b) It is a negative force in the lives of the people of the town.
(c) It is flexible in the way that facts are not.
(d) It is something that Miss Strangeworth feels more and more over time.

4. On what street does Miss Strangeworth live?
(a) Main Street.
(b) Strangeworth Street.
(c) Pleasant Street.
(d) Rose Street.

5. Who is Ethan Allen?
(a) The librarian's boyfriend.
(b) A Revolutionary War hero.
(c) Miss Strangeworth's next-door neighbor.
(d) Miss Strangeworth's deceased husband.

Short Answer Questions

1. Linda suggests that since no one in town seems to care about her and Dave, they should not bother to help anyone else. When Dave decides to help anyway, what does it demonstrate?

2. According to the narrator, how do the townspeople feel about Miss Strangeworth and her house and her roses?

3. According to Miss Strangeworth, to whom should Helen apologize?

4. What literary technique is used when Miss Strangeworth asks Helen if she has upset her husband by pointing out that the baby is " six months old and hasn't yet begun to learn to dance"?

5. Who was the first owner of the grocery store?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is ironic about Dave Harris being the one to find and deliver Miss Strangeworth's dropped letter?

2. What evidence is there in the story that Miss Strangeworth is well-known and respected in the town?

3. Describe Miss Strangeworth's relationship with Tommy Lewis.

4. Explain how Miss Strangeworth's need to do things perfectly is shown in how she writes her letters.

5. Describe Miss Strangeworth's feelings about her roses.

6. Describe the significance of the paper that Miss Strangeworth chooses for her anonymous notes.

7. What does Miss Strangeworth write to Mrs. Foster about her upcoming surgery, and what is she implying?

8. Describe the exterior of Miss Strangeworth's house.

9. What details in the story let the reader know that Miss Strangeworth herself does not believe some of the accusations she is making?

10. What details does Jackson provide about the interior of Miss Strangeworth's house to show the pride the family has always taken in the house?

(see the answer keys)

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