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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 did Chris get so excited about that he startled the Judge?

2. What happened to Dr. Wexler after the game is over?

3. Why was Sydelle using a polka dotted crutch in Chapter 29?

4. Who was the chess game master that T.R. Wexler had finally defeated?

5. When they could no longer work as partners, what did Theo suggest the heirs do?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did George Theodorakis falter while telling the story of Violet Westing?

2. What help did Denton provide for Chris?

3. After reexamining their clues, who did Grace and Mr. Hoo think was involved in the mystery?

4. How did Judge Ford react when told by Sandy that Jake Wexler was a bookie?

5. Why did the Judge Ford warn Sandy that they needed to keep their wits about them in Chapter 24?

6. What realization did Judge Ford suddenly make that convinced her that Westing was still alive?

7. The second time the heirs signed the receipt for their invitation, they changed the description of the position they were signing as. Why was this?

8. Who was Rosalie and how did she die?

9. What did Turtle do that made her the winner of the two million dollars?

10. Describe what event was occurring at the beginning of Chapter 16.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the themes in The Westing Game is that of family. The heirs are all related in some way, except for Denton Deere, and he is Angela's fiance. However, by the end of the novel, other close ties are formed by the characters, making them a sort of "family" on a different plane. Discuss one or two of the relationships that develop and discuss why they may have formed that particular relationship. What needs for each character are being met? Give examples from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

The Judge and Sandy do quite a bit of research and an elaborate analysis of the clues. They never, however, discover the true solution to the puzzle. Where did they err? Given the same knowledge, why did they not come up with the same solution that Turtle did? Did Sandy, as Westing, affect the conclusion in any way? Show examples from the text where he may have given a false clue, leading Judge Ford to make the wrong assumption.

Essay Topic 3

Literary elements are those parts of a literary piece that are always evident, such as character, setting, plot, etc. Literary devices are manipulations of both language and literary elements that occur in a particular story by the author to make the reading more interesting. Discuss and give examples of how Ellen Raskin handles either or both of these in a unique way to make her story more interesting to the reader.

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