Northanger Abbey

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What primary contrast is established between Bath and the countryside where Catherine was raised?

A) Bath is more cosmopolitan and less concerned with morality.

B) Bath is more focused on appearances and mannerisms.

C) Bath is closer to France and more influenced by continental ideas.

D) Bath is less socially stratified and more egalitarian.

2. Which character most clearly functions as a foil for Catherine?

A) Sarah

B) Eleanor

C) Isabella

D) Miss Andrews

3. What is John’s puzzling remark about James’s horse during Catherine’s carriage ride with the Thorpes meant to foreshadow?

A) The General’s reaction to Eleanor’s marriage to a Viscount

B) The revelation of the Thorpes’ mistaken beliefs about the Morlands’ wealth

C) John’s obsessive interest in displaying status through horses and carriages

D) Catherine’s eventual marriage to Henry despite the General’s objections

4. Why is Catherine’s refusal to dance with John—despite his false claim that she has already promised to do so—similar to her later refusal to accommodate Isabella by rearranging her plans with Eleanor so that she can go on the carriage ride with Isabella, John, and James?

A) Both events demonstrate that Catherine is learning to read people’s motivations more accurately.

B) Catherine’s real objective on both occasions is to find a way to spend more time with Henry.

C) In both cases, Catherine is refusing because she has a moral objection to the lies that John and Isabella tell.

D) These are both indicators that Catherine is learning to stand up for herself and what she wants.

5. Which characters’ beliefs about reading most closely match Catherine’s?

A) Henry’s and Eleanor’s

B) Eleanor’s and Isabella’s

C) Isabella’s and John’s

D) John’s and Henry’s

6. What aspect of society do characters like the Allens, Isabella, and John Thorpe satirize?

A) Its shallow piety

B) Its deliberate cruelty

C) Its self-involved superficiality

D) Its arbitrary capriciousness

7. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of Catherine’s blindness to the importance of money in decisions about marriage?

A) Her own family’s wealth makes her future husband’s wealth immaterial to her future security.

B) Like most women of her station, she assumes she will marry well without much effort.

C) Catherine is still very young and not yet worried about marrying respectably.

D) Because she is not very interested in money, she assumes that it does not matter to others.

8. Which is the most accurate description of Henry Tilney?

A) Loyal and deeply moral but also somewhat condescending and cynical

B) Kind and patient but also somewhat materialistic and class-conscious

C) Romantic and daring but also somewhat domineering and callous

D) Cheerful and generous but also somewhat naive and innocent

9. Which character’s actions are the most hypocritical?

A) Mrs. Allen’s

B) Isabella’s

C) Eleanor’s

D) Catherine’s

10. What criticism of the Gothic does this narrative convey?

A) Because Gothic fiction is addictively entertaining, it can make the real world seem uninspiring by comparison.

B) Because Gothic fiction does not portray the world accurately, reading too much of it can interfere with our understanding of reality.

C) Because Gothic fiction often presents magical solutions, it can interfere with our willingness to make hard choices in the real world.

D) Because Gothic fiction creates unrealistic expectations, reading too much of it can warp our sense of identity.

11. What is the relationship between the novel’s stance on fashion and its stance on civil behavior?

A) The novel suggests that following fashion and behaving civilly are essential to urban life but matter little in the countryside.

B) The novel elevates civil behavior as a morally superior interest as compared to the shallowness of following fashion.

C) The novel implies that well-rounded people may be interested in both topics but that it is unhealthy to fixate on either one.

D) The novel portrays both fashion and civil behavior as arbitrary standards that intelligent people can safely ignore.

12. Which detail is most clearly intended to satirize Gothic romance?

A) The General’s invitation to dinner in Bath

B) Catherine’s thank-you letter to Eleanor

C) Isabella’s letter to Catherine about her engagement

D) The laundry bill in the cabinet in Catherine’s room

13. Which family is of the highest socioeconomic class?

A) The Tilneys

B) The Morlands

C) The Allens

D) The Thorpes

14. Which is an aspect of immature thinking that Catherine outgrows during the novel?

A) Over-reliance on the opinions and judgments of other people

B) A tendency to attribute people’s actions to character rather than circumstances

C) A subconscious belief that wishing for things can actually make them happen

D) Expecting an authority figure to step in and solve problems for her

15. Which personal quality is most elevated by the novel’s characterizations, action, and narrative commentary?

A) Curiosity

B) Courage

C) Generosity

D) Sincerity

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is ironic about Catherine’s belief that she has discovered a secret truth about General Tilney and his wife’s death?

2. What is ironic about Catherine’s beliefs about her trip to Northanger Abbey versus her actual experiences there?