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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. When the narrator makes the plan to get off the wallpaper before John notices, how long do they have left at the house?

2. How does the narrator describe the wallpaper’s smell?

3. What does the narrator throw down into the garden path?

4. In the last paragraph, what does the narrator do?

5. The narrator describes the wallpaper having a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and _____________

Short Essay Questions

1. The narrator briefly considers jumping out the window. Why does she decide against it?

2. What is suggested by the narrator’s concern for her reputation?

3. At what point does this short story hit its climax?

4. Why does the narrator abruptly end her narration in the first few pages?

5. Why is the narrator glad that she is in the nursery and not the baby?

6. What is the “smooch” on the wall?

7. What does the narrator’s husband and brother prescribe to her for her condition?

8. How does the narrator feel about her husband and brother’s prescriptions?

9. What is suggested by the narrator’s multiple descriptions of the wallpaper?

10. What is the wallpaper’s odor a metaphor for?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narrator has been prescribed strict rest, which prohibits her from reading or writing. Why does she choose to do so anyway? Why does writing bring her comfort?

Essay Topic 2

The narrator describes John as “practical in the extreme” in the opening pages—how is this demonstrated throughout the story?

Essay Topic 3

Often, the narrator mentions that the nursery is more like an insane asylum rather than a nursery. What physical descriptions support this idea?

(see the answer keys)

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