View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the narrator, how do the townspeople feel about Miss Strangeworth and her house and her roses?
(a) Irritated.
(b) Proud.
(c) Jealous.
(d) Amused.

2. What color paper does Miss Strangeworth choose for the note to Don Crane about his baby daughter?
(a) Pink.
(b) Blue.
(c) Green.
(d) Yellow.

3. What does Miss Strangeworth tell Mr. Lewis that he has forgotten to do?
(a) Stock the brand of cat food she needs.
(b) Tell his grandson that she said "hello."
(c) Charge her for the strawberries.
(d) Remind her to buy tea.

4. Who planted the roses outside Miss Strangeworth's house?
(a) Miss Strangeworth.
(b) Her great-grandmother.
(c) Her mother.
(d) Her grandmother.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. Miss Strangeworth thinks about the Cranes "indulgently" (421). How does she think about them?

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. What does Miss Strangeworth's nice cream-colored stationery say at the top?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,056 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample