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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 stops to discuss an "appropriation" with Miss Chandler (422). What are they talking about?

2. What is the best definition of "proverbial" in the sentence "Miss Strangeworth's hats were proverbial in the town" (426)?

3. Miss Strangeworth thinks that children mocking her would be "reprehensible" (426). What would their mocking be, in her opinion?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. 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?

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

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

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the symbolic significance of the multicolored paper often used by Miss Strangeworth and the townspeople. Use textual evidence to support your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that affirms, refutes, or qualifies the following claim: Miss Strangeworth functions like an omnipotent deity in her small town, introducing the "possibility of evil" and allowing the residents of "her" town to make their own choices about how to respond. Offer textual support from the story to support your claims.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you explain why the events in the story's final few pages--the events that lead to Miss Strangeworth's downfall--are ironic. Use textual evidence to support your claims.

(see the answer keys)

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