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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 is nailed down in the narrator’s room?

2. Who does the narrator say is her one comfort?

3. Who does John ask to give a report about the narrator’s wellbeing?

4. What does the narrator try - but fails – to move?

5. The narrator gets up in the middle of the night to do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator think the “smooch” on the wall was created?

2. In 1862, what was the standard cure for depression, specifically after a woman has had a baby?

3. What doesn’t the narrator mind about the nursery at first?

4. What is the “smooch” on the wall?

5. Why does the narrator feel bad for the woman in the wallpaper?

6. What does John call the narrator in the middle of the night? And why?

7. Why have the narrator and her husband rented the summer house?

8. What’s illuminating about the conversation between John and the narrator on page 110? What is his tone with her? How does he treat her?

9. How does the narrator say John feels about intangible things?

10. What does what John calls the narrator in the middle of the nightsuggest about their relationship?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the story, John’s names for the narrator become more and more patronizing and child-like. Was the narrator becoming more childlike in her actions, or was John just being patronizing? What effect does this have on the narrator?

Essay Topic 2

How does the narrator change throughout the story? What moments in the story are indicative of a change?

Essay Topic 3

A rest-cure was often prescribed for a variety of mental illnesses in the 1800’s. Why does the narrator believe that something to keep her mind busy is actually better for her than following her husband’s prescription when he is a physician?

(see the answer keys)

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