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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. When Miss Strangeworth gets home from the grocery store, why does she not have the cup of tea she thinks about having?
(a) She believes that it will spoil her appetite for her midday meal.
(b) She is too tired and decides to have a nap.
(c) She has forgotten to buy tea at the grocery store.
(d) She had a cup earlier in the day and thinks that a second cup is too indulgent.

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

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

4. Miss Strangeworth thinks that people everywhere are "degraded" (425). What does this mean that she thinks about people?
(a) They can be ranked according to how good or bad they are.
(b) They are easily led into evil actions.
(c) They try to sneak around and do bad things without getting caught.
(d) They have fallen below the standards of moral, civilized life.

5. When Linda and Dave are seen together after school, they look "bleak" (422). How do they look?
(a) Hopeless.
(b) Angry.
(c) Cold.
(d) Confused.

Short Answer Questions

1. What mood is evoked by the detail about Miss Strangeworth's table being capable of expanding to seat 22?

2. What does Helen Crane say she is worried that her daughter should be doing more?

3. What is the purpose of including the details about how many people Miss Strangeworth talks to on her trip to the grocery store?

4. What has Miss Strangeworth written to Mr. Lewis in one of her letters?

5. For how many years has Miss Strangeworth been writing her anonymous letters?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Linda Stewart, and why has she been so upset?

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

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

4. Describe the main character of "The Possibility of Evil."

5. What worry does Helen Crane express about her baby daughter, and how does Miss Strangeworth respond to her concerns?

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

7. What is ironic about Miss Strangeworth's thoughts as she notices that various townspeople seem distressed?

8. Describe the setting of the story "The Possibility of Evil."

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

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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