Chapter I Quiz — Ethan Frome

Why has Ethan Frome come to the church on this winter night?

• To attend the community dance himself
• To walk Mattie Silver home afterward
• To deliver a message to Denis Eady
• To speak with Lawyer Varnum about a legal matter

What comparison does Ethan make about the winter night air, drawing on his college studies?

• He compares it to a glass bell jar
• He likens it to being inside a telescope
• He compares it to being in an exhausted receiver
• He describes it as a frozen chemical solution

What ended Ethan's studies at the technological college in Worcester?

• He ran out of money for tuition
• His father's death and the misfortunes following it
• He married Zeena and had to return to the farm
• The college closed during an economic downturn

What is Denis Eady's expression described as when he dances with Mattie?

• A look of shy admiration
• A look of almost impudent ownership
• A look of nervous excitement
• A look of practiced indifference

What is Mattie Silver's relationship to the Frome household?

• She is Ethan's younger sister
• She is a hired servant from the village
• She is Zeena's cousin, working as an unpaid housekeeper
• She is a boarder paying rent for room and meals

How does Ethan describe the effect Mattie's arrival had on his life?

• Like opening a window in a stuffy room
• Like the lighting of a fire on a cold hearth
• Like the first rain after a long drought
• Like the coming of spring after a hard winter

What does Zeena's remark about Ethan's shaving reveal about her character?

• She is concerned about the cost of razor blades
• She has been secretly observant despite appearing asleep each morning
• She wants Ethan to look presentable for church on Sundays
• She is worried that Ethan is spending too much time on grooming

What does Ethan secretly do on Saturday nights to help with housework?

• He washes the dishes after dinner
• He mends the fences around the property
• He scrubs the kitchen floor after the women have gone to bed
• He prepares bread dough for the next morning

In Chapter I, Ethan enters the church basement and dances with Mattie Silver before walking her home.

In Chapter I, Zeena tells Ethan that the doctor has recommended she not be left without someone to care for her.

In the sentence "not a sled darkened the whiteness of the long declivity," what does "declivity" mean?

• A flat, open meadow
• A downward slope or incline
• A frozen pond or lake
• A narrow mountain pass

When Wharton writes that Denis Eady's father had "suppleness and effrontery," what does "effrontery" mean?

• Great physical strength
• Shameless boldness or audacity
• Quiet dignity and reserve
• Generous hospitality

What does "fatuity" mean when Ethan thinks of gestures "which, in his fatuity, he had thought she kept for him"?

• Deep wisdom and insight
• Extreme shyness or timidity
• Foolish self-delusion or complacent stupidity
• Careful, deliberate observation