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

2. When does Miss Strangeworth generally mail her letters?
(a) Whenever she sees that there are not a lot of people at the post office.
(b) Very early in the morning.
(c) Around the time the sun sets.
(d) In the middle of the night.

3. 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) Linda Stewart begins sobbing again.
(c) She is busy thinking about sending a letter to Dave Harris's father.
(d) One of the younger children bumps into her.

4. Who was the first owner of the grocery store?
(a) Tommy Lewis's grandfather.
(b) Tommy Lewis's father.
(c) Tommy Lewis.
(d) Miss Strangeworth's father.

5. Why does Miss Strangeworth feel so certain that the children in front of the post office will be respectful toward her?
(a) She thinks that they would not dare to make fun of someone as important as her.
(b) She thinks that there is nothing about her that a person could possibly make fun of.
(c) She knows that the children of the town have all be raised to respect older people.
(d) She has been a good friend to their families and knows most of them by name.

Short Answer Questions

1. What causes Miss Strangeworth to say that the Cranes' baby will expect luxury all of her life?

2. What do people in town assume it means when someone writes on blue paper?

3. The narrator says that Miss Strangeworth's letters "dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion" (424). What is this saying about suspicion?

4. What detail is included to show that Miss Chandler is upset about something?

5. What did Tommy Lewis call Miss Strangeworth in high school?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Miss Strangeworth write to Mrs. Harper, and what is she implying?

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

4. 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?

5. What is ironic about Miss Strangeworth's criticisms of Helen and Don Crane's parenting?

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

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

8. To whom do the townspeople want to dedicate a statue, and why does Miss Strangeworth say that it should be a statue of her grandfather, instead?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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