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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 Margaret do when she hears a mysterious sound late at night?

2. What happens when the doctor tries to calm Hester after her "ghost sighting"?

3. What physical feature on Vida Winter is distinctive?

4. What missing bit of information in the "book pages" of the Banbury Herald disappoints Margaret?

5. Hester 's and the doctor's actions result in what consequences?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the orientation of the Angelfield house.

2. Describe Judith, the housekeeper.

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

4. At one point in their first conversation, Margaret is uncomfortable and gets up to leave. What words of Vida Winter bring her back?

5. List a few specific details about Vida Winter's appearance on Margaret's first meeting.

6. Contrast the difference in the way George Angelfield treats his two children.

7. Describe the bookstore. Who were its main customers, and how was most of its income made?

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

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

10. When Margaret writes a card about Hester, what conclusion does she come to, and how does she act on this?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"All children mythologize their birth." What does this quote by Vida Winter mean? How is this true for you or for others you have known? What myths were the characters in the story perpetuating and why?

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 2, Margaret Lea says, "through the written word, they (authors) can anger you or make you happy. They can comfort you. They can perplex you. They can alter you." In what ways did this novel arouse a reader's emotions? Give specific examples of emotions or life lessons that a reader could use from this novel.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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