WorksheetsWe Have Always Lived in the Castle: Ch. 1-2
Total questions: 25
Worksheet time: 16mins
What is Merricat's real name?
Mary Katherine
Mary Kate
Katherine
Maribel
How many years ago did "the incident" happen?
one year
6 years
8 years
12 years
What fruit was the poisoned sugar sprinkled on at dinner?
strawberries
blackberries
blueberries
raspberries
Who did the villagers believe killed the family?
Constance
Merricat
Julian
Charles
How old is Merricat?
12
16
18
21
Based purely on the inner thoughts of Mary Katherine in Chapter 1, who exhibits hostile feelings toward her?
Hostile: unfriendly; antagonistic
The townspeople
Stella
Constance
Her parents
Which of these statements about the first two chapters tells us Mary Katherine likes to recreate her own reality?
Instead of just walking to town, she creates a board game in her mind.
She fictionally recreates the events of the poisoning with her Uncle Julian.
She acts as though her cat is a clear, speaking member of the family and dresses him as such.
She actively hates the villagers.
Thus far, what's true about the style of this novel?
Even though Mary Katherine is a macabre character, it's written in a chipper way.
Mary Katherine is childlike, despite her 18 years.
Often, Mary Katherine narrates in run-on sentences; these add a rushed, chaotic feeling to the text.
Constance is sweet and even-tempered. That makes everything feel safe.
Who wrote this novel?
Mary Katherine Blackwood
Shirley Jackson
Joyce Carol Oates
Stephen King
When we discuss the idea of elitism, who are we generally referring to?
The Blackwood Family
The Villagers
Mary Katherine Blackwood
Stella and the Shopkeepers
Which of these is something the sugar bowl may not symbolize?
Death
Poison
Family Tradition (good or bad)
Friendliness
Why is it unexpected to hear that Constance was accused of murdering her family?
She never leaves the house.
Uncle Julian loves her.
Mary Katherine is the dark one, not Constance.
So far, she hasn't been an important character.
One of the characters is particularly reclusive. Which one is it?
Uncle Julian
Helen Clarke
Mary Katherine
Constance
Constance is the ___________ Blackwood daughter.
Oldest
Youngest
Five times in this section, Mary Katherine says that something "chills her". What is that something?
The silent glares from the village children
Constance mentioning she might be brave enough to leave the house soon
Helen Clarke bringing an extra visitor to tea
Uncle Julian asking questions about the night of the poisoning
Who does Helen Clarke bring to tea?
Mrs. Marshall
Mrs. Wright
Mrs. Blackwood
Mrs. Stella
What details from the text hint that their mother "lives on" metaphorically in the drawing room?
Her portrait hangs over the mantle
Her stuffed lapdog has a permanent residence on the floor near the fireplace
They keep it pristinely clean because she preferred it that way
Constance uses her mother's tea service in the exact same location she always did.
What isn't Mary Katherine allowed to do?
Cook food or serve the tea
Walk to town alone
Take care of her pet cat
Buy peanut brittle for Uncle Julian
Which of these characters DIDN'T appear in these two chapters?
Helen Clarke
Stella
Mr. Elbert
Jonathan Blackwood
What's Constance primarily interested in?
Poisoning and Murder
Gardening and Food
Academic Pursuits and Reading
Family and Friends
What character is this quote in reference to?
"Uncle Julian said, 'I admire a decently curious woman, madam; I could see at once that you were devoured with a passion to view the scene of the tragedy...'"
Uncle Julian
Mrs. Wright
Helen Clarke
Mrs. Elbert
What is the purpose of this passage:
"My niece is not capable of such subtlety, and her lawyer luckily said so at the trial. Constance can put her hand upon a bewildering array of deadly substances without ever leaving home; she could feed you a sauce of poison hemlock, a member of the parsley family which produces immediate paralysis and death when eaten. She might have made a marmalade of of the lovely thornapple or the baneberry, she might have tossed the salad with Holcus lanatus, called velvet grass, and rick in hydrocyanic acid... Deadly nightshade is a relative of the tomato; would we, any of us, have had the prescience to decline if Constance served it to us, spiced and made into a pickle? Or consider just the mushroom family, rich as that is in tradition and deception. We were all fond of mushrooms-- my niece makes a mushroom omelette you must taste to believe, madam, and the common death cup--"
Uncle Julian says all this simply to frighten Mrs. Wright. It shows us that he is vindictive.
This explains that Constance had access to many other natural poisons if she'd ACTUALLY wanted to kill them and helps excuse her as innocent.
It reminds us that there are many poisonous plants to be found in nature.
Primarily, it is just a way for the author to exhibit Uncle Julian's intelligence and prowess as an academic.
How does Mrs. White change over the course of the chapter?
At the beginning, she is rude and quiet; at the end, she is very loud and outspoken.
At the beginning, she is angry and resentful that she had to come; at the end, she's made a friend of Constance.
At the beginning, she is frightened and timid; at the end, she is curious and fascinated.
At the beginning, she is kind but stupid; at the end, she is deceptive and accusatory.
Which of these statements doesn't support "isolation" as a thematic idea in the novel so far?
The Blackwood home is set back from the road over half a mile and blocked off by a locked gate.
Mary Katherine hates going to town and being around people; she forces herself to do so only when it's absolutely necessary.
Constance sees no one but the rare weekly visitors, Uncle Julian, and Mary Katherine.
Uncle Julian likes to stay in the study in the evenings and watch the girls read books.
Mary Katherine is very wistful, which means that she is "strange, weird, or fanciful in appearance, conception, etc. created in the mind; illusory."
Select the quotes below that support this characterization of her.
"I really only want a winged horse, anyway. We could fly you to the moon and back, my horse and I."
"I am living on the moon, I told myself, I have a little house all by myself on the moon."
"I began dressing Helen Clarke in my mind, putting her in a bathing suit on a snow bank, setting her high in the hard branches of a tree in a dress of flimsy pink ruffles that caught and screamed and tore..."
"I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I had to be content with what I had."
