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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. What does the chapter title, "Box of Lives" refer to?

2. Hester has become quite well-read on what subject?

3. When Vida Winter cries out a name, Margaret realizes that she and Winter have something in common. What is it?

4. Where, and with whom, will Margaret eat her meals?

5. In the first interview, Margaret asks for three bits of information. What is the response to this from Vida Winter?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Mrs. Maudsley when she arrives at Angelfield to check on the twins?

2. Relate the circumstances surrounding Isabelle's birth.

3. Describe the contents of the letter which Margaret receives.

4. Describe what Margaret hears in the night soon after she arrives at the Winter house, and what she does when she hears this sound.

5. Describe the circumstances of the first meeting between Margaret and Aurelius.

6. List several details of Angelfield when Mrs. Maudsley first enters.

7. Give three adjectives that describe Hester.

8. Describe the incident of the baby and perambulator.

9. Relate a few ways that the bookstore contributed to Margaret's education.

10. Describe why Hester and the doctor thought it might be important to separate the twins.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is understanding family history helpful in understanding an individual? Winter says to Margaret that individuals are part of their family's story. Do you believe that an individual is so marked by his family or by the past events of a family that he or she is trapped by this background? Can a family so mark a person that he or she cannot change? Discuss this question as it relates either to Vida Winters or to Margaret Lea.

Essay Topic 2

Should we be our "brother's keeper?" In other words, when we see neighbors in need, what should our response be? If the townspeople had rallied sooner to intervene in the neglect of the children and the mental illness Isabelle, might tragedy have been averted? Discuss this idea in terms of the book, using citations from the book to prove your point.

Essay Topic 3

Many of the characters in this book struggle with depression. Identify the afflicted characters and discuss the behaviors of those characters which lead readers to imply that the depression is real. What factors for these characters might have led to this illness?

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