View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did Willa's family live prior to inheriting the house?

2. What literary device is found in the following sentence from Chapter 8? "The boots' brown tongues lolled, a pair of panting dogs" (183).

3. Who sets up Dusty's crib and bedroom in the house on Plum Street?

4. What problem does Willa encounter at the doctor's office in Chapter 5?

5. Where does Willa say she and her husband are going to meet their grandchild in Chapter 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. What renovations/repairs are being made to Willa's home in Chapter 3? Why?

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

3. What is the significance of the names Scylla and Charybdis in the novel?

4. How would you describe Nick's personality?

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

6. How is Christopher Hawk described when Willa first meets him?

7. How do Thatcher and Rose's childhoods and upbringing differ?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and analyze the plot structure of Unsheltered. Where does the rising action begin? Where does the climax occur? Given the two storylines in the book, how does this impact its plot structure?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the relationship between Willa and Iano in the novel. For how long have they been married? Has their marriage been a happy one? What have been their struggles in the past? Does their relationship grow or change in the course of the narrative? If so, how?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 820 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample