A Ladder to the Sky Quiz

Take our free A Ladder to the Sky quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. Take the free quiz now!

Why does Maurice need to suppress his memories of his school days which are triggered by seeing the abacus in the principal's office? (from Interlude: The Threatened Animal)

He is afraid that thinking about the past might cause him to become aroused in the principal's office.

He knows he needs to focus on the present and manage the sticky situation at hand.

He has discounted his school days as a waste of time and does not want to dwell on them.

He knows the memories might make him uncontrollably angry.

Why does Nicholas come to visit Edith in the hospital after hours? (from Part 2: The Tribesman)

Nicholas was not able to come during regular hours because of school.

The special relationship they shared was unknown to anyone, so he wanted to keep it that way.

He wanted Edith all to himself and not have to share her with other visitors.

Maurice did not allow any of the students to come visit Edith.

Why does Maurice not like Garrett? (from Part 2: The Tribesman)

He does not like that Garrett thinks he is the best writer in the class.

He has been mad at him ever since he interrupted dinner the night they met.

Garrett does not reverence Maurice but challenges him.

He is afraid that Garrett might be a better writer.

How is Maurice able to take the stories of other writers and publish them as his own? (from Interlude: The Threatened Animal)

He pays them small for their ideas.

He only uses the work from foreign writers so that their will be no legal issues.

He combines basic story ideas from several places and changes specific details to make the originals unrecognizable.

He destroys the originals so that there is no evidence that he ever received the story in the first place.

Why do the chapter titles in Part II change suddenly from naming individual months to the single word, "Now" (216)? (from Part 2: The Tribesman)

"Now" helps the reader to feel like the story is taking place right there with them.

The story is finally caught up to the present, so the last few months are all lumped into the phrase "now".

Because of the fall, Edith cannot really remember what month it is.

Edith is in a coma and she has no idea how long she has been in the hospital or what month it is.