The Golden Windows quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which kind of story best describes "The Golden Windows"?

   • Fairy tale
   • Tall tale
   • Correct answer: Fable
   • Myth
   • Legend

   A fable is a short story that teaches a lesson. The characters have no names, the plot is simple, and the story ends with a clear lesson: the boy learns that his own house has windows of gold and diamond.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Each evening the far house stopped shining. What did the boy believe had happened?

   • Correct answer: The family closed shutters for supper
   • A cloud drifted over the distant hill
   • The family blew out their lamps for bed
   • The gold was carried inside for the night

   The boy thought the people in the house "put up shutters" and "supposed they did this because it was supper-time." Really, the sun had set and the glow had faded.

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3. 3

   Question 3. When the father gives the boy a holiday, what does he ask him to do?

   • Find the house with the golden windows
   • Correct answer: Remember God gave it and learn a good thing
   • Bring home something of real value to sell at market
   • Rest at home and stay close to the farm

   The father says to "remember that God gave it, and try to learn some good thing." Finding the golden windows was the boy's own plan, not his father's request.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What did the boy do with his bread crumbs after eating by the brook?

   • Fed them to the calf
   • Saved them for supper
   • Correct answer: Scattered them for birds
   • Tossed them into the brook

   He "scattered the crumbs for the birds, as his mother had taught him to do." It is a small sign of how kindly he has been raised.

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5. 5

   Question 5. The woman laughs and tells the boy that "glass is better to see through." What does her remark suggest?

   • Her family feels ashamed of being poor
   • Gold windows cost too much to keep clean
   • Correct answer: Seeing clearly matters more than riches
   • The boy should hurry home before dark

   The woman is cheerful, not ashamed. Her remark hints at the story's lesson: seeing things clearly and truly is worth more than the dazzle of gold.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Why do the windows look golden from far away?

   • The glass has real gold melted into it
   • The panes are painted bright yellow
   • Candles are set in them for travelers
   • Correct answer: They reflect the light of the setting sun

   The girl explains that the golden windows "could only be seen at a certain hour, about sunset." The glass is ordinary; it glows when it reflects the sinking sun.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does the boy discover from the top of the knoll?

   • Correct answer: The golden house is his own home
   • The golden house belongs to a king
   • The golden house burned down long ago
   • The girl's own house is the golden one

   The girl points to "a house with windows of clear gold and diamond," and "the boy saw that it was his own home." This is situational irony: he traveled all day to find what he had left behind at home.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What do the golden windows come to symbolize by the end of the story?

   • The fortune the boy will earn someday
   • Correct answer: The worth of the home we already have
   • The dangers of traveling far from home
   • The magic hidden in faraway places

   At first the windows stand for a richer life the boy imagines somewhere else. By the end they stand for the value of his own home and family, which glow with "lamplight and firelight" when he returns.

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9. 9

   Question 9. On his walk, "the footprints seemed to be following him, and making company for him." Which literary device is this?

   • Onomatopoeia
   • Alliteration
   • Correct answer: Personification
   • Flashback

   Personification gives human actions to things that are not human. The footprints, and the shadow that would "dance or run with him," become cheerful walking companions.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which saying best fits the lesson of "The Golden Windows"?

    • Look before you leap
    • Slow and steady wins the race
    • The early bird catches the worm
    • Correct answer: There's no place like home

    The boy searches far away for something special and finds it was his own home all along. The story is also often compared to the saying that the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What gift does the boy give the girl before he leaves?

    • Three shiny horse-chestnuts
    • A cake from his mother
    • The last of his bread
    • Correct answer: His best white pebble

    He gives her "his best pebble, the white one with the red band," which he had carried for a year. She gives him three horse-chestnuts in return.

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12. 12

    Question 12. The girl leads the boy to "a knoll that rose behind the farmhouse." What is a knoll?

    • A narrow country road
    • Correct answer: A small, round hill
    • A shady valley
    • A farm gate

    A knoll is a small, rounded hill. From its top the children can see all the way to the boy's home on a hill far away.

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13. 13

    Question 13. Why is the boy's last line, "our house has windows of gold and diamond," a fitting ending?

    • Correct answer: It shows he learned the good thing his father asked for
    • It proves he will never leave the family farm again
    • It reveals his family secretly owns gold and diamonds
    • It shows he is angry the far house fooled him all day

    The story comes full circle. In the morning his father told him to "try to learn some good thing," and at night the boy answers his father's question with the lesson he learned.

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14. 14

    Question 14. Which of these events actually happened in the story?

    • The boy's family was too poor to pay a workman.

      Happened

      His people "were poor farmers, and could not pay a workman," so the boy worked hard all day.

    • The boy rode a horse to reach the far hill.

      Didn't happen

      He walked. "His bare feet made marks in the white dust" along the road.

    • The woman at the far house sent the boy away.

      Didn't happen

      She looked kindly at him, had him rest on the stone step, and brought him a cup of milk and a cake.

    • The girl showed the boy her black calf with a white star.

      Happened

      She showed him "her black calf with the white star on its forehead."

    • The boy's own calf at home was black like the girl's.

      Didn't happen

      His calf was "red like a chestnut, with four white feet."

    • The boy and the girl became friends over an apple.

      Happened

      They "had eaten an apple together, and so had become friends."

    • The boy told the girl that the golden house was his home.

      Didn't happen

      He "did not tell her what he had learned." He saved the lesson for his father.

    • The girl gave the boy three horse-chestnuts.

      Happened

      She gave him three: "one red like satin, one spotted, and one white like milk."

    • The boy got home before the sun went down.

      Didn't happen

      The way home was long, and "it was dark before the boy reached his father's house."

    • The boy's little sister ran to hug him when he came in.

      Happened

      His little sister ran "to throw her arms about his neck," and his mother came to kiss him.

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