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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. Where has Dr. Treat been rumored to have run off with a woman in Chapter 2?

2. What kind of tree does Thatcher associate with Polly?

3. At approximately what time does Gwen appear at Willa's door in Chapter 9?

4. What is Willa's last name?

5. Whose barouche ran away and crashed, according to Polly in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the setting of Batsto described in Chapter 8?

2. How would you describe Nick's personality?

3. Who is Tig and why is she living in Willa's home?

4. What is Willa's profession and how has it recently changed at the opening of the novel?

5. How would you describe Thatcher's relationship with Rose in the beginning of the novel?

6. When and where is Thatcher's story primarily set? How is this established?

7. Why does Thatcher go to Mary Treat's home in Chapter 4?

8. How did Willa obtain the house her family has moved into? How is the house described?

9. How is Gwendolyn described? What are Willa's first impressions of her?

10. How would you describe Willa's relationship with Iano in the beginning of the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the symbolism of the trees in the novel. In addition to the two trees in the yard at the house on Plum Street, what others appear? What do you think the trees represent? With what type of tree does Thatcher associate Mary? Why is this significant?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the symbolism of the house on Plum Street in Unsheltered. What does the house represent to Willa and her family? What does it represent to Thatcher, Rose, Polly, and Aurelia? How has the house changed in the century between these narratives?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the characters of Willa Knox and Thatcher Greenwood in Unsheltered. How are these two protagonists different? How are they similar? In what ways do their circumstances and stories overlap? How would you compare the outcomes for each character in the novel's ending?

(see the answer keys)

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