Ethan Frome Test

Question 1

Who takes care of the sick Frome?

Answer 1

Zeena

Question 2

Who goes to the post office everyday?

Answer 2

Ethan

Question 3

Who falls in love with a married man?

Answer 3

Mattie

Question 4

Who is symbolic for the pickle dish?

Answer 4

Ethan

Question 5

Who refuses to stay for dinner at the Fromes?

Answer 5

Jotham

Question 6

Who sells her piano?

Answer 6

Mattie

Question 7

Who shares his copy of “Popular Mechanics”?

Answer 7

Narrator

Question 8

Who becomes fascinated with Frome?

Answer 8

Narrator

Question 9

Who quit college for family reasons?

Answer 9

Ethan

Question 10

Who refuses to abandon Zeena?

Answer 10

Ethan

Question 11

Who took Zeena to the train station?

Answer 11

Jotham

Question 12

Who tries to repair the pickle dish before Zeena returns?

Answer 12

Ethan

Question 13

Who refuses to give Ethan an advance?

Answer 13

Andrew Hale

Question 14

Who helps Mattie move her trunk?

Answer 14

Ethan

Question 15

How is Chapter 10 Zeena’s chapter?

Answer 15

Everything is how Zeena wanted it to be. She is in control. Mattie is no longer a threat.

Question 16

Explain how the story is framed.

Answer 16

The story is framed by an anonymous first-person narrator.

Question 17

Who lies about getting paid in advance for work?

Answer 17

Ethan

Question 18

Who was forced to stay overnight at the Frome Farm?

Answer 18

Mattie

Question 19

Explain naturalism in the novel.

Answer 19

Nature is in control during the sled ride.

Question 20

What is the symbolism of the cat and rocking chair?

Answer 20

Guilt

Question 21

What is the symbolism of the red pickle dish?

Answer 21

Ethan

Question 22

What is the symbolism of the sled ride?

Answer 22

Free will and fate.

Question 23

What is the symbolism of the dilapidated kitchen?

Answer 23

Poverty

Question 24

What is the symbolism of the cat and mouse?

Answer 24

Mattie and Ethan chasing after each other.

Question 25

What is the significance of the novel’s setting?

Answer 25

Starkfield is rural.

Question 26

Explain determinism in the novel.

Answer 26

Nature is a force that can either mature or destroy a man.

Question 27

Give 2 examples of how Ethan is the pickle dish.

Answer 27

Zeena possesses Ethan. When Zeena verbally attacks Mattie, i’s hard to tell if she is talking about Ethan or the dish.

Question 28

What is an extension of Starkfield?

Answer 28

Frome’s farm

Question 29

What does the glue represent?

Answer 29

Ethan doesn’t have control over the environment.

Question 30

How is the foreshadowing revealed in Chapter 9?

Answer 30

The reader already knew that Ethan had a terrible accident and lived through it.

Question 31

Who has a romantic interest in Mattie?

Answer 31

Ethan

Question 32

Who was left penniless by her father?

Answer 32

Mattie

Question 33

Who is very ill and visits numerous doctors?

Answer 33

Zeena

Question 34

Who wants Mattie to leave?

Answer 34

Zeena

Question 35

List 5 of the 7 themes in the novel.

Answer 35

Lost Potential, Determinism/Naturalism, Repressed Passion, Isolation. and Poverty

Question 36

Tell how each of the 3 main characters are trapped in poverty.

Answer 36

Ethan cannot leave the farm because he has no education due to his family’s poverty. Zeena is too ill to provide for herself and Ethan is not heartless enough to leaver her. Mattie is destitute and must rely on her cousin’s family for financial support.

Question 37

How does Zeena foreshadow Mattie?

Answer 37

Zeena was once a bright young woman but she isn’t anymore due to the harsh life on the Frome Farm.

Question 38

Give an example of the environment’s power over man from the novel.

Answer 38

Horse falls. Sleet makes work slow. Ethan is powerless to do anything about the weather.

Question 39

Which character is associated with honor?

Answer 39

Ethan

Question 40

What is the significance of Ethan’s relationship with Zeena?

Answer 40

Ethan owes Zeena.