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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 Iris think of Caspar's paintings of Ruth?

2. What do Caspar and Iris both believe lives in the highest part of the van den Meers' house?

3. After Henrika's death, what is her portrait replaced with in the van den Meers' household?

4. Why do Clara and Iris decide to stop into the windmill while out ice skating?

5. What kind of mother is Henrika?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Heer van den Meer first present Iris to Clara?

2. What is Iris's role to be at the van den Meers?

3. Why does Clara pout about attending the event where her painting is unveiled?

4. Why does Iris ask Margarethe specifically to teach her how to cook and prepare a meal?

5. How do the Fishers end up at the van den Meers' house?

6. What revelation does Iris have about her new step-father during his marriage ceremony?

7. What does the title of Chapter 3, "The Girl of Ashes," refer to?

8. How does Clara get the nickname of "Cinderella"?

9. What goals is Marie de Medici trying to achieve through the ball?

10. While painting his famous painting of Clara, the Master says that he is "going to ruin" someone. Who does he mean?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose three passages from Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister that you consider to be the three most important. Analyze each passage for tone, diction, and any other literary devices that Maguire might use within them, such as foreshadowing or symbolism. What makes each scene one of the most important? How does Maguire convey the high level of importance of each passage? Which literary devices does Maguire use to structure and create each passage, and how would each scene be different without the use of one of those devices?

Essay Topic 2

The Fisher family comprises three very different women. Choose Margarethe, Ruth, or Iris and examine what role they play in the family, whether they are happy in the beginning and end of the text, and how their choices affect the rest of the women in the family unit. Make sure to use quotations from the text to support your position.

Essay Topic 3

Paintings play a crucial role in Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Choose three paintings that are mentioned in the text and discuss 1) who and what they physically represent, 2) who and what they symbolically represent, and 3) how Maguire uses them to advance and influence the plot. For each painting, use at least one (and preferably two) citations from the text to support your physical description.

(see the answer keys)

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