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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. Miss Strangeworth thinks that the Cranes are "infatuated" (421). What would this mean is true about the couple?

2. Who is Ethan Allen?

3. What does Miss Strangeworth fail to notice about her letters?

4. Helen Crane looks at her baby with "rapt wonder" (421). How is she looking at the baby?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

4. What does the green letter at the end of the story say, and what does it imply?

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

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

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

8. 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?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Certainly, Miss Strangeworth's behavior is extreme and cruel. But is Miss Strangeworth the only person in town who gossips and spreads rumors? Write an essay that makes a claim about the purpose of including details like the townspeople gossiping about Linda Stewart and the rumor about the tourist mistaking Miss Strangeworth's home for a museum. Support your claim with textual evidence.

Essay Topic 2

"The Possibility of Evil" is studded with words like "graceful" and "dainty." Write an essay that explores the significance of this aspect of the story's diction. Support your claims with direct quotations from the story.

Essay Topic 3

Characters can be divided into those who are "static" (characters that do not meaningfully change during the course of a story) and those who are "dynamic" (characters that do change in meaningful ways). Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about which kind of character Miss Strangeworth is. Use textual evidence to support your claims.

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