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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What causes Cornelius to become so depressed?
(a) His failing business venture.
(b) His unhappy marriage to Margarethe.
(c) An accident in the kitchen that left Clara horribly scarred.
(d) No one really knows for sure.

2. Who insists on introducing Ruth and Iris to the prince?
(a) Dame Pruyn.
(b) Clara.
(c) Caspar.
(d) Schoonmaker.

3. When Margarethe refers to the imp in their family, to whom is she actually referring?
(a) Ruth.
(b) An imp that only comes out at night.
(c) Clara.
(d) Iris.

4. What happens to Margarethe after the ball?
(a) She runs away, so no one is really sure.
(b) She kills herself.
(c) She is still alive but blind.
(d) She goes insane.

5. How do Ruth and Iris get to the ball?
(a) Caspar lends them a horse.
(b) They have to walk.
(c) They share a bicycle.
(d) In a private carriage.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Iris and Ruth's hair for the ball?

2. How does Iris describe Ruth as they are traveling to the ball?

3. How much of the van den Meers' household has been lost because of their debt?

4. What color dress does Iris wear to the ball?

5. As the ball approaches and Margarethe is tight for money, why does she claim the Master owes her money?

Short Essay Questions

1. What key piece of information did Iris not understand about Margarethe's continued reference to the imp in their family?

2. As they are about to depart for the ball, how does Iris react when Clara promises not to take Caspar from her?

3. What are two examples of juxtapositioned themes to her family's story that Ruth gives in the Epilogue?

4. In the Epilogue, what does Ruth surmise happened to the greedy van Stolk?

5. What message is the Master trying to convey when he asks, after showing Margarethe his paintings of hideous people, what she knows about charitable stories from the Bible?

6. In the Epilogue, what reason does Ruth give for burning the painting?

7. What reason does Ruth give for why she often appears inconsequential and stupid in the retelling of the story?

8. Why is Margarethe in such shock when Ruth speaks the word "Ashgirl" when referring to Clara?

9. What kind of perspective can Ruth offer about what happens to her family?

10. What does Margarethe suspect is so wrong with the prince that his aunt, the queen, has to set something like the ball up to help him find a wife?

(see the answer keys)

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