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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 has happened to Pieter ten Broek?

2. How is Iris initially described in the novel?

3. What ultimately leads Clara to leave the house on a regular basis with Iris and Ruth?

4. Who is Pieter ten Broek?

5. After the Fishers flee their homeland, who are they expecting will house and feed them?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does van den Meer's lost wealth mean for Margarethe's plan?

2. What kind of figure does Ruth become as she begins to get a little older?

3. What is Iris's relationship with her mother like in the beginning of the novel?

4. What does the reader learn about Ruth's character and personality by the end of Chapter 1?

5. What new traits does Iris develop after Henrika's death?

6. What lesson does Margarethe want Iris to take away from their discussion about how everyone is trapped in their life by some circumstance?

7. What do tulips symbolize in the beginning of the novel?

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

9. What kind of relationship does Margarethe imply that Caspar and the Master have in secret?

10. What leads to a shift of power in the marriage of van den Meer and his wife?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does Ruth burn the Young Woman with Tulips painting? What are her reasons behind such a momentous decision? What are the effects of that decision? Do you agree or disagree with what she did?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the symbolism of the windmill within Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Using quotations taken from the text, discuss at least three different aspects when the windmill appears, what its presence symbolizes, and how Maguire uses that symbolism to communicate indirectly to the reader.

Essay Topic 3

While a seemingly small item at the beginning of the text, tulips become critically important by the end of the novel. Discuss what tulips symbolize in the text and how their symbolism changes as the story progresses.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 705 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample