ENG 2D SHSS 2019 Name: Gurnoor Dhillon

Short Stories Unit Test

10K + 15T + 15C + 10A /50

Please type all answers in the space provided. If you require additional space, feel free
to just add it. When completed, please upload to the appropriate Dropbox. Good
luck!

Part A: Sight Passage

Please READ the short story "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson (ATTACHED AFTER
THIS PART).

Then ANSWER the following questions in the space provided. If you require additional
space, feel free to just add it.

Short Answer

1. In the chart below, list the ELEMENTS of the short story. (8K)
NARRATIVE Story plot – there is a plot and conflict in the story
ELEMENTS
Defining characters- there is a definition of each character and who
they are based off what they do or present themselves
Point of view – the story is told by a narrator but throughout the story
Miss strangeworths point of view is shown towards how she feels
about the different people in town.

CENTRAL The main conflict in the story is that usually everyone is feeling bright
CONFLICT/PLO and happy but lately everyone has been down and sloppy and have
T not been focusing on things they find necessary in daily lives. Miss
Strangeworth than decided to write letters as usual to people about
their lives anonymously. The letters were somewhat mean, and she
mailed them without anyone knowing, while she went to the office
she put the letters in the mailbox. Unknowingly one letter slipped out
and fell out of the box. Harris and Linda were in the mail office too
and Harris saw the letter slip out , he constantly called out for Miss
Strangeworth and how her letter fell out but she did not hear him.
Harris decided to read the letter instead of mailing it back and after
reading it he sent Miss Strangeworth a letter the next day
anonymously saying “ look at what used to be your roses”.
SETTING The setting takes place in the grocery store where Miss Strangeworth
meets Mr. Lewis the cashier and they have a conversation. The story
also takes place at Miss Strangeworth’s house where outside she has
planted roses which people like to admire. The story also takes place
in the way back to home where Miss strangeworth meets many
people and notices lately everyone has been feeling down.

CHARACTER Miss Adela Strangeworth- resident in the town, she has a dimple and
blue eyes and she really likes telling tourists and other people about
her roses. When tourists ask, she never decides to give the roses away
because they belong to Pleasant street, she hates sloppiness.
Ms. Harper- met Adela at the grocery store checkout, her hands shake
and Miss Strangeworth wonders if she takes good care of herself since
she is not that young as she looks
Billy Moore- rides his dad’s shiny car to see the librarian and talk
about any new novels
Linda – Stewart’s fifteen year old daughter, has been staying upset
lately and cried back from school without noticing who has come in
her way.

THEME Judgement, pride (negative way)

NARRATIVE First person because the story is being told through a narrator
POINT OF VIEW perspective

LITERARY Personification – she gives her judgement off on people and who they
DEVICES are like the mother and her toddler being a princess.
Flashback – when she writes the letters, she writes them based off
past events in other peoples lives that were mocking
Dialogue– many conversations take place throughout the story
specially in the grocery store and on the way back home

2. Explain the significance or importance of the title. (2K)

I think the title “ the possibility of evil” gives off what evil can do to one
which related to Miss Strangeworth and how her mean comments and
judgement of others and their lives impacted her precious rose garden.
 Throughout the story Miss Strangeworth says “how evil can the world be
because she believes that the world is cruel and she personally isn’t and
she is in that illusion when in reality the letters she sends out are cruel and
evil.

/10K

3. Please identify two-character traits of Miss Strangeworth using evidence

from the text to support your opinion. (3T)

 Organized – throughout the story the author reveals how Miss

Strangeworth buys the finest paper to write letter while everyone uses
them to write notes or shopping lists and she has gold quilts and neat
stationary which shows she is very organized. The author also explains how
Miss Strangeworths garden is organized and her grass is cut in line and her
roses are in place in a proper line order.
/10T  Cruel- Miss Strangeworth is cruel because she wrote letters to others and
how what they do or did is mean, for example she wrote a letter to Mrs.
Harper and her daughter being slow. In the letter she wrote “have you
ever seen an idiot child before? Some people just should nit have
children”.

4. What do Ms Strangeworth's letters symbolize? (2T)

Miss Strangeworth’s letters symbolize her cruelty and how mean she is
because of what she writes in the letters about other people without the people really
knowing who wrote them. The letters symbolize what Miss Strangeworth really is by
personality and how in reality she acts sweet to everyone and how she actually is mean and
writes mean letters to people.
 5. What do Ms Strangeworth's roses symbolize? (2T)

Miss strangeworths roses symbolize who much she loves them and their
scent and how she likes the way tourists and others admire them. Throughout the story, the
way she talks about her roses and how much she loves them and does not appreciate if
someone takes them or touches them, shows how much she loves the roses .

6. Explain the irony of Ms Strangeworth living on Pleasant Street. How can

the names of people or places provide insight into a story? (3T)

Paragraph Response

/5A
Please answer the following questions in thoughtful supported opinion paragraphs.

7. Explain how the author creates the tension and darkness that underlies
the pleasant atmosphere/tone/mood of the story. (Hint: Use specific
words or passages from the story to support your explanation of this
element.) (2A + 3C)
 Throughout Shirley Jackson’s “The possibility of evil” there was a lot of mood set
because of the word choices and settings because the author’s main job is to grab the readers
attention.

In story the first part where the author used elements to create mood was the
beginning of the story where the author describes the mood and time of the setting. To get
the reader to actually feel and understand the setting, she used words to extend the mood to
sound more relatable “Miss Adela Strangeworth stepped daintily along Main Street on her
way to the grocery. The sun was shining, the air was fresh and clear after the night’s heavy
rain, and everything in Miss Strangeworth’s little town looked washed and bright. Miss
Strangeworth took deep breaths and thought that there was nothing in the world like a
fragrant summer day.” Here you can see how at the beginning the author used specific words
to grab the attention of how Miss strangeworth was feeling.

Another part of the story where the author created the mood was the one on one
conversation between Miss strangeworth and people in town. The conversation and the
responses sort of gives the reader the feeling of actually imagining or being there during the
conversation. Miss Adela Strangeworth stepped daintily along Main Street on her way to the
grocery. The sun was shining, the air was fresh and clear after the night’s heavy rain, and
everything in Miss Strangeworth’s little town looked washed and bright. Miss Strangeworth
took deep breaths and thought that there was nothing in the world like a fragrant summer
day.

Lastly another part where the author set the mood in the story was when Miss
Strangeworth decided to mail the letter secretly , the use of words used by the author gave
the feeling of the secrecy of mailing the letters. Some words and sentences used by author to
create mode were “she timed her walk so she could reach the post office just as darkness was
starting to dim the outlines of the trees and the shapes of peoples’ faces, although no one
could ever mistake Miss Strangeworth, with her dainty walk and her rustling skirts.”

The following methods and sentences used in the story really help the audience
anticipate what is happening and really gets the audience in the mood of reading the story
and taking in the events.
 8. In your opinion, did Ms Strangeworth deserve what happened to her at
the end of the story? (Hint: Use specific evidence from the story in your
answer to support your opinion). (2A + 3C)

The story “the possibility of evil” shows many different faces and events which
show how cruel the world can be and all the possibilities of evil which can lead
to negative impacts. Miss strangeworth was cruel and sent mean letters to
everyone which lead to her downfall and payback with her losing something
special to her

In my opinion I feel like Miss starngworth deserved what happened to

her because she really loved her roses and admired them, and everyone knew that in
town. So, when Harris found out about the mean letters Miss strangeworth sends out
anonymously he did do the correct thing because Miss strangeworth should get
payback and should experience in actual how cruel the world can be. Throughout the
story Miss strangeworth says a specific dialogue “how cruel can the world be” and so
she finally notices how cruel the world can be

She also deserved the payback she got because she should know how it feels
when someone destroys or attacks something that a person dearly loves. If Harris was
to destroy anything else Miss strangeoworth would not feel that much guilt or loss
because the only thing she finds precious is her roses.

Miss strangeworth wrote mean letters against people and things the love and
made jokes of what happened to them and so now her most loved thing has been a
joke for the world to watch. Harris also left the same letter with the same paper Miss
strangeworth used and so when she read the note saying “look at what happened to
what used to be your roses “ she felt upset and now she can understand how mean
letters can be and she can feel the guilt of sending mean letters to everyone
 In the story we have learned that cleverness and fake attention towards people
will one day lead to them knowing your true intentions and which can lead to ones
downfall.

/6C

/5A

/5T

/9C

Part B: Reader’s Response (con’t)

Please answer the following questions in thoughtful supported opinion

paragraphs.

9. Which is the most SUSPENSEFUL short story we have read so far in class?
How did the author create this element in the story?

Throughout the English course we have read many different short stories from
borders, The ninny, The possibility of evil. Each of the short stories have had suspense’s
and questions raised for me one of the most suspenseful stories we read was The
Tunnel.

In the story one of the main questions that I had was , what was in the Tunnel ?
in the story kent’s past than occurred in his future with a different twist , before he was
stuck in the tunnel and the circle and his friend Jeff saved him but than Ib was stuck in
the tunnel and Kent saved her. The suspense was that what was actually in the tunnel
that draws everyone in it?
 Another suspense of the story was, what were the bloodsuckers and why was
Kent so afraid of what happened when he entered the tunnel. We never really got to
see a proper explanation of Kent’s past because all the story revealed was how Kent
once got stuck in the circle and jeff called out his real name and than the circle let him
go. The question remains, that what happened to Danielle and Jeff and why hasn’t Kent
talked about them ever since the tunnel issue.

Finally the last suspenseful reason of The tunnel being the most suspenseful
story was the ending and the conflict. The issue of the story was how Ib gets stuck in
the circle and the girls wont let her go and when Kent calls out her real name, Elizabeth
they let her go. The question raises that who are these girls? Why did they let Ib go
when Kent called out her real name?

Personally The Tunnel was one of my favourite stories because of the suspense
and questions remaining, hopefully there Is a sequal.

10. Which story did you like the least of the short stories we have read so far
in class?
How would you improve this story for future readers, Which ELEMENTS
would you add and/or change?

In my opinion one of the stories I least liked would be The Ninny for many different
reasons.

The first reason I did not like the Ninny was the simple story line, and how the
story did not really have a intense conflict. The story line was simple, and it did not have that
much interest to it because it gave away a simple moral of how easy it is to be strong. The
story also did not use any intense words to get me into the feel of the characters and story
line.

Another reason would be the length of the story because I like stories that I
can read for a while and sit down to fully understand the story because I like long stories
because they give a lot of detail. The ninny was short and had mostly dialogue (conversation)
between the ninny and her boss.

The final reason I did not like The ninny that much would be because it had no
suspense and the story was direct and after reading it I had no questions of what was going
on or any questions that were not answered. The story gave away many details and no
suspense remained because all the questions were answered by the simple storyline.

The following three reasons are as to why I really did not like The ninny , It was
a good story and was very simple but I did not like it.