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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. Who are Betty and Gatty in Chapter XLII?

2. How much time passes before Mrs. Skiddy returns to her family after abandoning them?

3. Who is Horace Gates?

4. Where does Ruth go to apply for the teaching job in Chapter LI?

5. Once she begins working for Mr. Walter, what does Ruth NOT spend any of her time doing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What two offers does Ruth receive in Chapter LXXII?

2. Why does the boarding house housemaid quit her job in Chapter XLVII?

3. In Chapter LIII when Mrs. Skiddy finds her husband has not returned home from work, where does she find him?

4. What does Ruth worry about despite having found a newspaper to publish her work in Chapter LXII?

5. Who does Katy meet after leaving her grandfather's home in Chapter XLV?

6. Who is Mrs. Waters and what image does she have of herself?

7. How does Mr. Walter advise Ruth in Chapter LXXI?

8. What is life like for Katy living with her grandparents?

9. What success does Ruth find in Chapter LXIV? Who is unhappy with her success?

10. What idea does Ruth come up with to earn a living in Chapter LVI? Who does she turn to for help?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After struggling without income for some time, Ruth decides to become a writer. Describe Ruth's writing career from when she first decides to become a writer until the end of the novel. How does Ruth's choice to become a writer change her life forever? Why does she use a pen name? What types of things does she write about?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the setting of the novel "Ruth Hall", the Victorian era in America. How does the setting impact Ruth's choices and actions in the novel? How is Ruth confined to the social practices and rules of the time period?

Essay Topic 3

Ruth is left without money or means following the death of her husband. Describe the living conditions that Ruth and her daughters are forced to live in following Harry's death. How does the narrator describe her living accommodations? How does Ruth make money for her family?

(see the answer keys)

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