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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. Who does the narrator think she sees creeping outside her windows?

2. What year was this story published?

3. Who comes to the door when the narrator is creeping along the wall?

4. At the climax of the story, who does the narrator think that she has become?

5. What does the narrator think John is looking at when he is in the room?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does the fact that the narrator says John “pretended to be living and kind” suggest about the narrator’s condition?

3. Who does John tell the narrator is the only person who can truly help her out of her sickness?

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

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

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

7. What is the “smooch” on the wall?

8. The narrator says that she watches the paper always. What does this increasing obsession suggest about the narrator?

9. Why doesn’t the narrator cry in front of Jennie or John?

10. How has the major life event that the narrator recently endured affected her mental health?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The story is written in the first-person from the narrator who is suffering a mental illness. How does the narrator’s writing and style change as the story progresses? What, in the writing, is indicative that the narrator is not well?

Essay Topic 2

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 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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