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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who planted the roses outside Miss Strangeworth's house?
(a) Her grandmother.
(b) Her mother.
(c) Her great-grandmother.
(d) Miss Strangeworth.

2. When Miss Strangeworth thinks to herself "People must live graciously, after all," (425), what does this show about her as a person?
(a) She understands very little about other people.
(b) She is a very selfish person.
(c) She wants everyone to have a life as nice as hers.
(d) She understands the irony of her position in the town.

3. What is implied about Miss Strangeworth's choice of the multicolored paper for her notes?
(a) She wishes that she were more accepted as a "regular person" in the town.
(b) She does not think that her neighbors deserve her really nice stationery.
(c) She is trying to make sure that her letters blend in with all of the other letters and notes in town.
(d) She has less money than she pretends to and cannot afford to write so often on the expensive stationery.

4. What kind of flowers does Miss Strangeworth send to the church for the celebration of the new minister's arrival?
(a) Poppies.
(b) Roses.
(c) Carnations.
(d) Gladiolus.

5. Why does Linda Stewart refuse to tell Dave Harris what was in the letter to her parents?
(a) She is afraid that Dave will end their relationship if he knows the truth.
(b) She is embarrassed and horrified about what it said.
(c) She knows that he will become very angry if she tells him what is being said about him.
(d) She is worried that part of the letter might be true.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Miss Strangeworth refer to the Cranes' baby as "her highness" (421)?

2. What does Miss Strangeworth's nice cream-colored stationery say at the top?

3. How old is Miss Strangeworth?

4. When Miss Strangeworth looks out the window after the story ends, what will she see?

5. The narrator says that Miss Strangeworth's letters "dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion" (424). What is this saying about suspicion?

Short Essay Questions

1. To whom do the townspeople want to dedicate a statue, and why does Miss Strangeworth say that it should be a statue of her grandfather, instead?

2. Describe the exterior of Miss Strangeworth's house.

3. What does Miss Strangeworth write to Mrs. Harper, and what is she implying?

4. What does the green letter at the end of the story say, and what does it imply?

5. What is ironic about Miss Strangeworth's criticisms of Helen and Don Crane's parenting?

6. Describe the setting of the story "The Possibility of Evil."

7. Describe Miss Strangeworth's feelings about her roses.

8. Explain how Miss Strangeworth's need to do things perfectly is shown in how she writes her letters.

9. Describe the significance of the paper that Miss Strangeworth chooses for her anonymous notes.

10. What evidence is there in the story that Miss Strangeworth is well-known and respected in the town?

(see the answer keys)

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