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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. How long does the narrator say Willa had spent in Boston in Chapter 3?

2. Whose writings does Willa refer to as her "new Bible" in Chapter 9 (232)?

3. What was the name of Willa's mother?

4. What subject does Gwen study with Iano?

5. What is Mrs. Treat's first name?

Short Essay Questions

1. What has Thatcher learned about the house in Chapter 2? Why does this news distress him?

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

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

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

5. What is revealed in the conversation between Willa and Iano in the evening after Gwen's visit in Chapter 9?

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

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

8. How would you compare and contrast the characters or Rose and Mary in the novel?

9. How would you describe Nick's personality?

10. How would you describe the relationship between Tig and Zeke?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the marriage of Thatcher and Rose in the novel. For how long have these characters been married at the onset of the novel? Where did they meet? How does their relationship change in the course of the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Willa's relationship with her daughter Tig evolves throughout the novel. How would you describe their relationship in the beginning? How does this relationship change? What leads to the changes in the relationship? Do you think that their relationship grows stronger or more distant? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the character of Mary Treat in Unsheltered. Where is Mary from? What are her circumstances when her character is first introduced in the novel? How do those circumstances change? How does Mary stand apart from the other women in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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