Assignment task: Please answer ONE of the following questions in detail in FORMAL/ACADEMIC language with no less than five hundred words and remember to feature a MINIMUM of TWO quotations from the text to support your arguments and main points. Remember to also add a work cited page according to MLA guidelines.
The following questions are based on the novel We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson:
1. Merricat is expressive in her self-description and in listing her many likes and dislikes. How does Merricat (and Jackson) use this to hide certain facts from the reader and to throw them off the truth?
2. How do the relationships of the Blackwood family resemble traditional family relationships? How do these similarities comment upon power roles and other dynamics within the traditional family structure?
3. The people of the village have never been hurt by Constance and her sister, so why do they hate and fear them? What do the Blackwoods represent to the village?
4. Discuss the element of mystery in the novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle. What are some examples of mystery in the novel? Why is Merricat such a mysterious character?
5. Discuss Jackson's use of foreshadowing. What are some examples of foreshadowing in the novel? Why does Jackson use foreshadowing?
6. How is Merricat Blackwood an unreliable narrator? How much of what she says is true?