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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 does Charles examine in the drawing room in Chapter 6?

2. Why does Merricat return to the house in Chapter 8?

3. What does Merricat see happen at the house while in the forest?

4. Which of the following supplies did the villagers ruin?

5. What does Merricat wrap around Constance in Chapter 8?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Merricat imagine at the end of Chapter 7?

2. Faced with a ruined home, what do Constance and Merricat decide to do?

3. What do the girls decide to do in honor of Uncle Julian in Chapter 9?

4. How do the villagers act while the Blackwoods' house is burning? What does Charles do while the house is burning?

5. In Chapter 6, what does Merricat take from her father's room and why?

6. What does Charles say which causes Merricat to run away in Chapter 7?

7. What do Constance and Merricat hear a woman tell some children in the Blackwood's yard?

8. What do Merricat and Constance say to each other when they are safe at Merricat's hiding place?

9. What does Merricat notice is different when she returns home in Chapter 8?

10. In Chapter 7, what does Merricat decide to do on Thursday? What is special about Thursdays?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the motif of greed in the "We Have Always Lived in the Castle". Who is greedy? How does this character show his greed? How do the other characters react to his greed?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and interpret the character Merricat. What are her defining character traits? Is she a reliable narrator?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze Jackson's use of irony. What are some examples of irony in the novel? How do these examples affect the reader's experience?

(see the answer keys)

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