43 pages • 1 hour read
Shirley JacksonThe Possibility of Evil
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1965A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Quiz
Reading Check, Multiple Choice & Short Answer Quizzes
Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.
Reading Check
1. How does the narrator characterize the setting of Miss Adela Strangeworth’s town at the beginning of the story?
2. What is Miss Strangeworth’s opinion of the Crane family when she runs into Helen in the street?
3. What does Miss Strangeworth do when she makes an error in her letters, and why?
4. Why does Miss Strangeworth write her letters?
5. How does Miss Strangeworth deliver her letters?
Multiple Choice
1. What is Miss Strangeworth’s family history in the town?
A) Miss Strangeworth comes from new money.
B) Miss Strangeworth’s great-grandfather was the first mayor of the town.
C) Miss Strangeworth’s mother opened a factory that employed most of the townspeople.
D) Miss Strangeworth’s grandfather built the first house on Pleasant Street.
2. During her visit to the town center, what does Miss Strangeworth notice about the townspeople she interacts with?
A) The townspeople seem unusually energetic.
B) The townspeople have been waiting to talk to her.
C) The townspeople seem ill or tired.
D) The townspeople ignore her.
3. What is ironic about the different uses of the stationary?
A) The stationary is introduced as a popular form for neighbors to send each other notes, but turns into a form they use to send each other bills for services.
B) The stationary is introduced as a popular form for neighbors to write suggestions to town hall about improving the town, but they use it to harass the mayor when he doesn’t listen to their suggestions.
C) The stationary is introduced as a popular form that Miss Strangeworth’s family invented and produced to bring more money to the town, but Miss Strangeworth uses it to wreak chaos in the town.
D) The stationary is introduced as a popular form used by the townspeople to collect recipes, but Miss Strangeworth uses to send anonymous and insulting messages to her neighbors.
4. How truthful are the contents of Miss Strangeworth’s letters?
A) Very truthful; Miss Strangeworth’s conclusions come from the eavesdropping she does on others’ conversations in town.
B) Not truthful; Miss Strangeworth prefers exploring suspicions over confirming facts.
C) Very truthful; Miss Strangeworth has many friends in town who give her first-hand information for her letters.
D) Not truthful; Miss Strangeworth bases the contents of these letters on novels that she has read.
5. How does the conflict between Linda and Dave demonstrate that Miss Strangeworth’s letters have consequences?
A) Linda and Dave plan to run away together because of the contents of Miss Strangeworth’s letters.
B) Linda breaks up with Dave because her father is upset about the contents of Miss Strangeworth’s letters.
C) Dave publicly accuses Linda of cheating on him because of the contents of Miss Strangeworth’s letters.
D) Even though their relationship is abusive, Linda and Dave get back together because of the contents of Miss Strangeworth’s letters.
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How has Miss Strangeworth’s relationship with the Lewis family changed over time?
2. Why is Miss Strangeworth proud of her house on Pleasant Street?
3. What are the contents of Miss Strangeworth’s letter to the Cranes, and how does this differ from how she treated Helen Crane in town?
4. How does the author use irony in Paragraph 43 to highlight the theme of “Morality Versus Appearances”?
5. How does Miss Strangeworth’s letter-writing get turned against her?
Quizzes – Answer Key
Reading Check
1. At the beginning of the novel, the narrator characterizes the town's setting as bright and shiny, full of fresh air. (Paragraph 1)
2. When Miss Strangeworth runs into Helen Crane in town, she reflects “indulgently” that Don and Helen are extremely in love with their new daughter. (Paragraph 21)
3. When Miss Strangeworth makes a mistake in her letters, she burns the paper and starts all over again because she believes in doing everything the right way. (Paragraph 38)
4. Miss Strangeworth writes her letters because she believes there are many wicked people in her town, and as a Strangeworth, she must hold them responsible. (Paragraph 40)
5. Miss Strangeworth delivers her letters at the town’s new post office in the evening to avoid large crowds and keep her delivery a secret. (Paragraph 47)
Multiple Choice
1. D (Paragraph 3)
2. C (Paragraphs 10-33)
3. D (Paragraphs 36-37)
4. B (Paragraph 40)
5. B (Paragraphs 49-54)
Short-Answer Response
1. Despite the Lewis family’s long-standing reputation in the town, Miss Strangeworth shifted her relationship with them from familiar to formal as the years went by. (Paragraph 6)
2. Miss Strangeworth is proud of her house on Pleasant Street because it represents the town's growth. She loves the “heavy scent” of her roses and the “unbelievably trim lines of the house.” (Paragraph 34)
3. Miss Strangeworth writes to Helen that some people shouldn’t have children. This is different from how she treated Helen in the street, when she cooed over the baby and told Helen not to worry about her daughter’s slower development. (Paragraphs 28 and 37)
4. In paragraph 43, the author writes, "If she had been asked, she would have said that her name, Adela Strangeworth, a name honored in the town for so many years, did not belong on such trash.” This is ironic because the reader knows that Miss Strangeworth is indeed the one who is responsible for “such trash” despite her family pride. The name “Strangeworth” is Adela’s appearance of morality, but her contribution to the “trash” is the reality of her morality. (Paragraph 43)
5. Miss Strangeworth’s letter-writing gets turned against her when she receives her own stationary with an anonymous and threatening note about her beloved roses. (Paragraph 63)
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