Ethan Frome: Chapters IX - End

Respond to the questions below in complete sentences in order to receive credit.  You can also receive credit by responding or adding to your classmates' responses.  Include quotes from and/or specific references to the text in your responses.

IX – END

1.  Where do Ethan and Mattie first stop on their ride, and how do they act toward each other?

2.  What is Ethan’s motive for stopping at the crest of the

Corbury Road

? What is their first ride down together like?

3.  What idea does Mattie suggest and why?

4.  What does Ethan mean when he says, “I know we can fetch it”? What image does he suddenly see, and how does he react?

5.  How does Mrs. Hale describe Ethan Frome’s life after the accident? Why does she make this assessment of him?

6.  In the beginning of the novella, Ethan opens the door to his house for the narrator, but the narrator does not describe what he sees until the final chapter.  Who does the “querulous droning” belong to?  Were you surprised?

7.  Do you agree with the words of Mrs. Hale that “[I]f she’d ha’ died, Ethan might ha’ lived.” Why or why not?

8.  How is the end of the novel ironic?

Ethan Frome: Chapters VI - VIII

Respond to the questions below in complete sentences in order to receive credit.  You can also receive credit by responding or adding to your classmates' responses.  Include quotes from and/or specific references to the text in your responses.

1.  What plan does Zeena have when she returns? How does Ethan react at first? What do

you think is Zeena’s true motive for dismissing Mattie?  What does this discovery mean to Zeena?

2.  What discovery does Zeena make? What does this suggest that she will do?

3.  What two courses of action can Ethan take? What forces make the decision difficult?  What type of conflict is this?

4.  Why does Ethan decide to visit Mr. Hale? What does Ethan’s change of heart reveal

about him?

5.  For which character do you have the most sympathy (Ethan, Zeena, or Mattie)?  Why?

Ethan Frome: Prologue - Chapter II

Respond to the questions below in complete sentences in order to receive credit.  You can also receive credit by responding or adding to your classmates' responses.  Include quotes from and/or specific references to the text in your responses.

1. Identify the following characters:  Ethan Frome, Zeena, Mattie Silver, Denis Eady, The Narrator.

2. What is the general setting of the novel?  How would you describe Starkfield, Massachusetts as you visualize it to someone who has not been there.

3. What does the narrator learn about Ethan Frome from other characters?  What effect does the knowledge have on the narrator?

4.  What is Ethan’s house like? What part is missing, and why does this strike the narrator as important?  What does this symbolize?

5.  Who is Mattie Silver and why is her presence so important to Ethan Frome?

6.  What color is associated with Mattie?  What does it symbolize?

7.  What does Zeena fail to do when Ethan brings Mattie home from the dance? What might have been her motive for doing it?

8.  Why is Zeena dissatisfied with Mattie? How does this dissatisfaction affect Zeena’s behavior toward her?

Ethan Frome Chapters III - V

Respond to the questions below in complete sentences in order to receive credit.  You can also receive credit by responding or adding to your classmates' responses.  Include quotes from and/or specific references to the text in your responses.

1.  What was Zeena like when Ethan first met her? Why did Ethan ask her to stay? What difference might it have made if his mother had died in spring?

2.  In what way did Zeena change after marriage? What effect did Zeena’s behavior have on Ethan’s future plans?

3.  What does Ethan want from Mr. Hale and why? What effect does Mr. Hale’s statement that he is fixing up a house for Ned and Ruth have on Ethan? Why?

4.  What two sights does Ethan notice on his way home, and what is his response to each?

5.  How does Mattie set the dinner table? What gets broken, and what might it symbolize?

6.  What color ribbon does Mattie wear in her hair and what does it symbolize?

7.  What are some reminders of Zeena that are present throughout Ethan and Mattie’s evening together?  What effect do these things have on the mood?

8.  Is Ethan Frome to blame for his plight—that of being trapped in a loveless marriage and having to give up his aspiration to study engineering, or is he a victim of circumstance, bound by family tradition? Does Mattie Silver represent his last chance to attain happiness, or does his liaison with her represent another instance of poor judgment on his part?