Gothic Literature Review

When does the story “Where Is Here?” take place?

• on a snowy day at a hillside cottage
• on a chilly, damp evening at sunset
• late on a breezy afternoon in summertime
• early in the morning, just before sunrise

At the beginning of the story, the father invites the stranger in. Instead the stranger says he would prefer to…

• Just look around outside
• meet the man’s children
• take photographs of the house
• Sit on the basement stairs

What makes the stranger burst into tears?

• Seeing the basement
• Sitting on the old, rotting swing set
• The father touching his shoulder
• Touching the cushion of the window seat

At the end of “Where Is Here?” what effect has the stranger’s visit had on the family?

• It has caused the family sad and tired
• It has left the children excited and curious about math
• It has caused the father and mother to get into a physical altercation
• It has left the father and mother grateful and appreciative of their lives

The father was described as gregarious at the beginning of the text which means (Where is Here?)

• foolish
• welcoming, sociable
• bitter
• calm, reserved

The stranger mentions that this place seemed more comfortable and had blooming flowers, which this room in his childhood was “controlled.”

• Kitchen
• Living room
• Basement
• the son’s bedroom

Which detail best supports that the stranger is actually a ghost.

• He mentions the flowers in the kitchen
• He left wearing all black
• When he turned into the light, his face was shrunken and pale
• He makes a reference to being dead

Read the following sentences from the last part of “Where Is Here?” “In the living room he [the father] saw that the lights were flickering as if on the brink of going out; the patterned wallpaper seemed drained of color; a shadow lay upon it shaped like a bulbous cloud or growth. “ Which of the following best explains what is taking place in this passage?

• The father is changing his opinion about the stranger.
• The father is recalling how the living room has always appeared.
• The father is beginning to understand the stranger’s difficult childhood
• The father is detecting an otherworldly, unreal, and frightening presence.

Part A: The stranger in “Where Is Here?” mentions his mother several times. Which of the following statements describes how he most likely felt about his mother while he was growing up?

• In his childhood the stranger was afraid of his mother
• In his childhood the stranger did not know his mother.
• In his childhood the stranger often fought with his mother.
• In his childhood the stranger and his mother were very close.

Part B Which of the following excerpts from “Where Is Here?” best supports the answer to Part A?

• As if embarrassed, he said, “Mother too had plants on this windowsill but I don’t recall them ever blooming.”
• “And Mother sat there,” he said, merely pointing. “I don’t recall my own place or my sister’s but I suppose it doesn’t matter.”
• “Sometimes Mother would join me, if she was in the mood, and we’d plot together—oh, all sorts of fantastical things!”
• Hurriedly she said, “Is your mother still living, Mr. … ?” “Oh no. Not at all,” the stranger said, rising abruptly from the window seat….