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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 altercation does Anna get into with her father at the tavern?

2. What does Mr. Mompellion say the villages with the plague should do?

3. What happens to Mem Gowdie after the encounter at the old mine?

4. Who does Colonel Bradford insult during this interaction with the rector?

5. Why does Anna happen to be in the field where the crowd gathers?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is revealed about Anna's relationship with her father? How does Sam figure into this?

2. What is Anna ashamed of in her relationship with Anys? How has this changed?

3. Why does Anna go to Mary's house? How does Mary and Anna's job differ from that of Alexander's?

4. Who becomes a lodger at Anna's house? What is his trade?

5. What is the rector's religious explanation for the plague?

6. What does Anna do at the Bradfords'? How does she unwittingly cause a stir?

7. Who comes to visit the rector in the beginning of the novel? What does he/she want?

8. What happens to Edward Cooper? What soon befalls Anna's child? How does this effect Anna?

9. What happened in Blackwell? What is Maggie Cantwell's condition?

10. Why does Maggie come to Anna for help? Where does Maggie draw the line in accepting aid from Anna?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Think about Anna's relationship with Lib Hancock. What telltale signs does the author show of their confidence in one another? How is that confidence broken? Is it ever truly mended? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Consider John Gordon's fate in the novel. What measures does he take to protect himself against the plague? Did Urith believe the same as he did? How does she show this? Do you think their situation influenced Anna in some way? Why? Make sure to use specific examples in your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Think about the difference between the Gowdie garden and Elinor's garden. Are Mem's and Anys's fates much different from Elinor's? How might these gardens affect their deaths? Think specifically about the reasons for these characters' deaths and each garden's instrumentality in the survival of the village.

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