A Dead Woman's Secret

What is a hyperbole?

• Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally

• An expression that contradicts itself but reveals a truth

• Giving human characteristics to nonhuman things

• The use of words that imitate sounds

What is a comparison between two things using "like" or "as"?

What is situational irony?

• a comparison between two words using "like" or "as"

• when someone has inside information in the story

• When the outcome of a situation is different from what is expected or intended to happen

• when someone says something but means the opposite

Who put a "good dash of brandy into his coffee"?

• Nun

• Priest

• Magistrate

• Dead Woman

"Shaken by a hurricane of grief" - what literary device is this?

• Paradox

• Simile

• Hyperbole

• Metaphor

"To make one's toilet" - what does this mean (HINT: look at your footnotes!)

• To go to the bathroom

• To put on makeup/groom oneself

• To build a toilet

• To enjoy a long day

What do the kids think about their mother before they read the letter?

• She was a devoted, adoring mother who was a saint.

• She was pushy and annoying

• She was hiding something from them.

What does the word "desolate" mean as it was used in this sentence?

"And by the depth of their despiar they realized how strongly they had been attached to her and how desolate they would find themselves now."

• happy and humble

• peaceful and carefree

• lost and deserted

Why did the dead woman's daughter become a nun? Select all answers that are correct.

• She was in love with God.

• She found men distasteful and couldn't bear to be with one.

• She liked the practice of the nuns

• She thought it would make her mother more accepting of her.

How does the author develop the priest's point of view?

• The priest is not actually a member of the clergy, which is revealed through the descriptions of his boredom and rich meals.

• The priest views death as a job, which is revealed by contrasting his actions with the sibling's genuine grief

• The priest views death as an opportunity to make the magistrate his ally, which is indicated by the priest's false praise of the mother

• The priest is genuinely affected by the woman's death, which is shown by contrasting the priest's grief with the siblings' melodramatic mourning.