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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. Why didn't Charles ever visit the girls before?

2. What do Constance's guests encourage her to do in Chapter 2?

3. Who is Jim Donell?

4. What is Constance's relationship to the man who comes to call in Chapter 4?

5. What does Merricat imagine her buried baby teeth might someday turn into?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Merricat go in Chapter 4?

2. How does Stella act around Mary Katherine in Chapter 1?

3. What does Merricat feel is coming in Chapter 3?

4. Who does Helen Clarke bring with her to the Blackwoods'? How do Merricat and Constance feel about having an extra guest?

5. Who comes to see Julian in Chapter 3? What does Constance do before his arrival?

6. How does Merricat describe her sense that something is going to change is Chapter 4?

7. What kinds of things does Merricat say the people who would come to her house looking for Constance after the murders would do?

8. What does Merricat speak to Constance about playfully at the beginning of Chapter 5?

9. What is the first thing Constance says in the book, and what is its significance?

10. What does Mary Katherine think of the villagers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of death in the novel. How does Jackson illustrate the theme of death? What do the characters think of death?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the author of the novel, Shirley Jackson. What other works has she received recognition for? Is her work usually similarly-themed? Does she always write in the same genre?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and interpret the secondary characters of the novel. Who are they and what are their defining character traits? How are they related to the protagonist? What is their role in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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