_____1. The setting for Ethan Frome is:
A. Boston, Massachusetts.
B. Litchfield, Connecticut.
C. Starkfield, Massachusetts.
D. New York City.
_____2. In the Prologue, which element correctly describes the effect produced by Mrs. Hale's reserve about Ethan's smash-up?
A. suspense
B. flashback
C. irony
D. frame story
_____3. Which character in the novel is Zeena's cousin?
A. Mrs. Hale
B. Mattie Silver
C. Denis Eady
D. Martha Pierce
_____4. Which word best describes the atmosphere, or mood, of the Prologue and Chapter I?
A. jolly
B. comfortable
C. severe
D. superstitious
_____5. what conflict between Ethan and Denis Eady is hinted at in the narrative?
A. Ethan wants Denis to repay a loan.
B. Ethan fears that Denis may buy Ethan's farm.
C. Ethan suspects that Denis may be attracted to Mattie, and Ethan is jealous.
D. Ethan is angry that Denis has been impolite to Zeena.
_____6. Which phrase best describes the relationship between Ethan and Zeena?
A. warm and affectionate
B. casual
C. passionate
D. emotionally alienated
_____7. Which item below plays an important role in the novel's plot?
A. a silver spoon
B. a pickle-dish
C. a garden hoe
D. a mirror
_____8. According to Zeena in Chapter VII, what has the new doctor advised her to do?
A. take a complete rest cure
B. get more exercise
C. go on a strict diet
D. travel to town more often
_____9. At what time of year does the climax of the novel occur?
A. midsummer
B. late winter
C. late spring
D. early autumn
_____10. At the end of Chapter IX, what can you infer about the outcome of Ethan and Mattie's ride?
A. Mattie has been killed, but Ethan has survived.
B. Both Ethan and Mattie have been badly injured.
C. Mattie and Ethan have both been killed.
D. Mattie and Ethan have been slightly injured.
Short Answer : Type your answer below each question. Use complete sentences, correct grammar, and correct spelling.
11. What kind of conflict describes the struggle between Ethan and Zeena over Mattie?
12. What kind of narrative device does Edith Wharton use at both the beginning and the end of Ethan Frome?
13. What literary technique is exemplified by this quotation from Ethan Frome?
"When Ethan could sweat over 'em both from sun-up to dark he kinder choked a living out of 'em; but his folks ate up most everything, even then, . . ."
14.when Ethan sees the headstone in the cemetery commemorating the fifty-year marriage of another Ethan and his wife, Endurance, what ironic thought strikes him?
15. What type of figurative language does this quotation illustrate?
"Through the obscurity which hid their faces their thoughts seemed to dart at each other like serpents shooting venom."
16. Assignment
For this paper, you will be writing an explication of a poem 5 - 8 paragraphs. You may choose any of the poems we have read in this unit. A poetry explication is an explanation of what you believe the message of the poem is. Because you will be explaining your own personal interpretation of the poem, you will need to gather some evidence to support your ideas about the poem. The goal of an explication is to "illuminate" the meaning of the poem for other readers. First of all READ the poem. Read it several times. Read it aloud. Notice the way it looks on the page, the way the words sound when you read them aloud, and anything the words make you think about. You will probably have to look some words up in the dictionary-remember that the definition you know might not be the ONLY definition there is. Once you feel like you have formed some good initial ideas about the poem, you can begin to really examine the tools (literary devices) that the poet used to create the poem. Answer the following questions using your answers as a rough draft for your paper.
• What does the title contribute to the reader's understanding?
• Who is speaking? What is the situation?
• What difficult, special, unusual words does the poem contain?
• What references need explaining?
• How does the poem develop? Personal statement or a story?
• What is the main idea of the poem?
• What kind of figurative language is the poem using? What about symbolism or literary allusions
17. Assignment
In an organized, well developed report 3 - 5 typed pages, compare Julius Caesar with one of the following assassinated leaders:
Yitzhak Rabin
Abraham Lincoln
Malcolm X
Czar Nicholas II of Russia
18. Write an analytic response to a favorite piece of literature. Analyze a poem, a play, or a story. Use the Writing Workshop worksheet and the Scoring Rubric below to help you prepare and organize your essay.