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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. When the story opens, in which room of her house is Mary waiting?

2. After Mary thinks more about the house and its ghost, what does she begin to wonder?

3. What aspect of the house does Alida mention that finally convinces Ned and Mary that it is as old as they are hoping?

4. What explanation does Ned give Mary at the time of the mysterious visit in October?

5. When Mary and Ned see the man coming toward the hosue in October, what does Mary assume?

Short Essay Questions

1. What draws the Boynes to England?

2. What strange conclusion does Mary come to about the relationship of the ghost to the house, Lyng?

3. What does Mary remember happening earlier in the day in October when she and Ned first climbed Meldon Steep?

4. What do the Boynes tell Alida Stair about why Lyng's drawbacks are not problems from their point of view?

5. How has Ned's mood changed on the morning after he and Mary first discussed the Blue Star lawsuit, and what does Mary believe changed his mood?

6. Why does Parvis come to see Mary near the end of the story?

7. In the narrative present at the beginning of the story, where is Mary and what is she doing?

8. How does the narrator describe the life that the Boynes had in America?

9. After she finds out that he has gone out with the mysterious man and not yet returned, why is Mary immediately alarmed?

10. What do Mary and Ned plan to do with their time at Lyng?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the appropriateness of Dorset as a setting for "Afterward." Use textual support in your defense, and be sure to cite any outside sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that examines the final sighting of Bob Elwell's ghost. Why does Wharton take up space with the elaborate procedure of questioning various maids? Why not simply have Trimmle be the one to see the mysterious visitor? Why have any of the maids see him at all? What is the significance of the slip of paper, and why do the exact details of the encounter matter so much to Mary as she thinks back over Ned's disappearance many months later? Make a claim about how the choices Wharton makes regarding the ghost's final appearance impact the meaning of the overall story.

Essay Topic 3

In "Afterward," two Americans use wealth that they have earned through exploitation to try to escape the realities of America into a fantasy of the European past. Write an essay that offers your opinion about whether Wharton did or did not intend this as a critique of America's dominant class and American history in general. If you use outside sources, be sure to cite them in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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