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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. What do Lewis, Uncle Jonathan, and Mrs. Zimmerman do first in Lewis' instructions in Chapter Ten?

2. What does Lewis take from Uncle Jonathan's study in Chapter Nine?

3. What does Lewis do to the clock in Chapter Ten?

4. What does Lewis realize in Chapter Six?

5. What do Mrs. Zimmerman and Uncle Jonathan do to cheer up Lewis in Chapter Six?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman do in Chapter Six to cheer Lewis up? What happens when they are out?

2. How does Tarby react when Lewis tries to talk to him in Chapter Nine? What does Lewis do?

3. What is inside the light fixture in the parlor in Chapter Six that has been put back in place? What does Lewis realize from this?

4. What does Lewis find in an organ in Chapter Eight? What does this object say?

5. What does Lewis see at night in Chapter Eight? What do they say?

6. What does Lewis ask Uncle Jonathan about the Hanchett House in Chapter Eight? How does Uncle Jonathan respond?

7. How do they celebrate Christmas at the Barnavelt’s house in Chapter Eight? How does Lewis feel?

8. Where does the eight ball say the magic clock is in Chapter Ten? What do they find when they go there?

9. In Chapter Seven, Hammerhandle move across the street from Barnvault’s Folly. He is known for his mean temper and for being rumored to be able to tell the future. His name is from the handles he makes for Hammers and other instruments.

10. Who moves in across the street from Barnavelt’s Folly in Chapter Seven? How is this person known in town?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

While the novel is a mystery about the clock in the walls, as it says in the title, the main events of the novel are written on the book cover. How does this change what it means to read a mystery? Why is it changed in this way? Write three pages with at least four textual examples.

Essay Topic 2

The American Gothic’s connection to nature is usually one of fear. What representation of nature is found in the novel? How is magic connected to nature and vice versa? Write three pages with at least four textual examples.

Essay Topic 3

When Lewis first learns of magic, he tries to use logic to think it through, but then decides that logic does not apply (42). Explore the novel’s connection between the magical and the logical. How are they connected? How are they separate? How does magic vary in its connection to logic? Write three pages with at least four textual examples.

(see the answer keys)

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