ETHAN FROME PROLOGUE

Harmon Gow and Ruth Varnum are both important to the narrative because

• They both share parts and pieces of Ethan's story.

• They both have a very close friendship with Ethan.

• They work together at the post office.

• They are both related to Ethan's wife, Zenobia

The people of Starkfield treat Ethan

• with warmth

• with familiarity

• with indifference

• with hostility

We learn all of the following about Ethan in the Prologue EXCEPT

• He has a red gash on his forehead.

• He is very unhappily married.

• He is 52 years old.

• He is poor.

Who speaks the following line: "Guess he's been in Starkfield too many winters. Most of the smart ones get away."

• Harmon Gow

• Ruth Varnum

• The narrator

• Mrs. Hale

Ethan and the narrator share what common experience?

• They have both been to Florida.

• They are both married.

• They were both born in Starkfield.

• They both enjoy the isolation that the snow brings.

The narrator ends up staying at Ethan's house because

• The snowstorm grew too severe for further travel.

• The carriage broke down on the trip back to town.

• Ethan's wife graciously invites him to stay.

• The narrator agrees to pay for room and board to stay there.

The narrator is frustrated by Ethan's story because

• No one is willing to fill in the many gaps in the story.

• No one even knows what really happened to Ethan.

• No one has lived in Starkfield long enough to remember what happened.

• No one likes Ethan enough to tell the narrator what happened.

One major focus of the Prologue is

• the effects of isolation

• the effects of unrequited love

• the effects of bitter rivalry

• the effects of enduring anger

When Ethan tells the narrator "Thank you - I'll take it," what is he referring to.

• his mail

• a book

• a job with the narrator's company

• money for taking the narrator to his job

When Ethan tells the narrator that he had to "take down the L," what is he referring to?

• A building which connected the main house to outer buildings

• The barn which housed the horse

• The silo which held the grain from Ethan's farm

• The guest house