East of Eden, Chapter 20 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What does Faye ask Kate to do at the beginning of Chapter 20?

   • Take a partnership in a new house down in Sacramento
   • Correct answer: Stop taking customers upstairs and manage the house instead
   • Sail for Europe with her and buy new dresses in Paris
   • Collect a share of the takings from the lodge event

   Faye wants Kate to live as her daughter and run the house rather than go upstairs, and offers to pay her more than she earns now.

   Read the passage
2. 2

   Question 2. Why does not a single Woodman of the World come to the house that night?

   • They moved their gathering to the following Wednesday
   • A rainstorm has closed the road down from the ridge
   • Correct answer: One of their members collapses at the lodge and dies
   • Faye has quarreled with the lodge over an unpaid bill

   Clarence Monteith has a heart attack during the closing ritual and dies on the way home, and the lodge spends the night on funeral arrangements.

   Read the passage
3. 3

   Question 3. What does Kate tell the other girls about Faye before sending them to bed?

   • That Faye has decided to raise the price of the house
   • That Faye wants the parlor closed at one from now on
   • That Faye means to sell the house and move away
   • Correct answer: That Faye is unwell and fainted while they had tea

   Kate says Faye fainted dead away at tea late that afternoon and that she wishes Faye would see a doctor, though the afternoon scene the chapter shows has Faye in tears, not fainting.

   Read the passage
4. 4

   Question 4. Why is Kate afraid to drink the champagne Faye pours?

   • Correct answer: Drink dissolves the self-control that hides who she is
   • She promised the other girls she would stay sober
   • She wants a clear head for the regulars still waiting
   • She worries Faye will taste the paregoric in the glass

   Kate remembers what drink has done to her before, and after the second glass the barriers and deceptions she maintains give way.

   Read the passage
5. 5

   Question 5. What does the drunken Kate reveal about her regulars?

   • They come only on Wednesdays when the parlor is quiet
   • Correct answer: They pay her ten dollars for the violence she inflicts
   • They are mostly members of the lodge that meets nearby
   • They have been paying Faye directly behind Kate's back

   Kate boasts that her regulars pay far above the house rate because no one else will give them the cutting and whipping they want.

   Read the passage
6. 6

   Question 6. Why does Kate use ammonia and an ivory crochet hook on the sleeping Faye?

   • Correct answer: To make the night register on Faye as a hideous dream
   • To revive Faye so that no doctor need be called out
   • To leave marks that will make Faye look truly ill
   • To keep Faye under until the paregoric has worn off

   Kate drives Faye toward panic and eases off each time, so that the confession survives only as a nightmare Faye will not tell anyone about.

   Read the passage
7. 7

   Question 7. What does Kate's reaction to the will suggest about her feelings for Faye?

   • She fears the will proves Faye already suspects her
   • She is genuinely moved and nearly abandons her plan
   • Correct answer: She treats it as a legal instrument she has worked toward
   • She is disappointed that the estate is smaller than hoped

   Kate reads the paper three times and studies its date and the cook's signature, checking that it would stand up rather than reacting as a grateful daughter.

   Read the passage
8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 20?

   • Kate gives Faye a gold watch she says belonged to her own mother.

     Happened

     Kate brings Faye a little gold watch wrapped in one of her lawn handkerchiefs and says it was her mother's watch, which she wants her new mother to have.

   • Faye shows Kate a will, witnessed by the cook, leaving Kate everything.

     Happened

     Faye's gift is a will, carefully drawn and witnessed by the cook, leaving all her worldly goods to Kate Albey because she regards her as her daughter.

   • Kate refuses the champagne and quietly empties it into a plant.

     Didn't happen

     Kate is uneasy, but Faye will not touch her own glass until Kate's is empty, so Kate drinks glass after glass until the wine breaks through her self-control.

   • Faye warns Kate that a brother in Sacramento may contest the will.

     Didn't happen

     It is Kate who raises the fear that kin might come to break the will, and Faye answers that as far as she knows she has no kin at all.

   • Kate makes herself vomit with mustard and water after Faye passes out.

     Happened

     After Faye falls asleep on the paregoric, Kate stirs water into dry mustard in the kitchen, drinks it and retches until the wine is overcome and her mind is clear.

   Read the passage
9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these details belong to the last section of Chapter 20?

   • Kate changes into a nightgown and sleeping cap before raising the alarm.

     Happened

     Kate slips to her own room, puts on a nightgown, robe and slippers, covers her hair with a sleeping cap, and only then pours cold water in Faye's ear to set her screaming.

   • The cook tries to stop Kate from going into Faye's room.

     Happened

     When Kate reaches Faye's door, the cook puts out his hand to stop her and warns her that she doesn't know what's in there.

   • Kate sends for the doctor to examine Faye at first light.

     Didn't happen

     No doctor is called; Kate tells everyone Faye has had a nightmare, sends them back to bed, and nurses Faye herself with cold towels and tea.

   • Faye describes her dreams in detail to the girls the next morning.

     Didn't happen

     Faye shrinks from even Kate's request to hear the dreams and says she would not tell anyone about them.

   • Alex brings a can of beer up to the bedroom at ten o'clock.

     Happened

     At ten o'clock Alex brings in a can of beer, sets it on the bureau top without a word, and Kate holds a glass of it to Faye's lips.

   Read the passage
10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'irreproachable' mean as used in: "It was simple, direct, and legally irreproachable."?

    • Written in a formal, old-fashioned hand
    • Difficult for an ordinary reader to follow
    • Drawn up without the help of a lawyer
    • Correct answer: Beyond criticism or legal challenge

    Irreproachable means faultless or beyond criticism, so the will is written in a way that could not be attacked in court.

    Read the passage
11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'paregoric' mean as used in: "poured paregoric until the glass was half full"?

    • A smelling salt used to revive the fainting
    • A strong fluid used for cleaning the house
    • Correct answer: An opium-based medicine sold over the counter
    • A sweet liqueur poured after a celebration

    Paregoric is a camphorated tincture of opium once kept as an ordinary household remedy, which is why half a glass puts Faye out cold.

    Read the passage
12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'sardonic' mean as used in: "Her wide-set eyes slitted and grew watchful and sardonic."?

    • Warm and openly affectionate
    • Sleepy and slow to focus on anything
    • Frightened and close to breaking down
    • Correct answer: Mocking and scornfully amused

    Sardonic describes bitter, mocking amusement, and it marks the exact moment the girlish mask slides off Kate.

    Read the passage