The House of the Spirits

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Epigraph-Chapter 4

Reading Check

1. Who is the oldest del Valle daughter?

2. Who asks Esteban for a loan of 50 pesos?

3. Whom does Clara marry?

4. How many children does Clara have?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Clara stop speaking for nine years?

2. Why does Férula resent Esteban?

3. How does Nívea bond with Clara?

4. Why does Esteban send his sons to boarding school?

Paired Resource

“Encomienda and Hacienda: The Evolution of the Great Estate in the Spanish Indies”

• Scholarly article contextualizing the hacienda system within the history of Spanish colonialism in the Americas (though not Chile specifically)
• Teacher-appropriate (not student-facing)

Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. Who appears as an apparition when the Truebas are having dinner?

2. For whom does Esteban order a grand funeral and internment?

3. Who inherits Marcos’s fascination for flight?

4. What illegal trade does the count begin to indulge in?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Esteban fire Pedro Tercero?

2. Why does Esteban García hate the Truebas?

3. What causes Jaime and Nicolás to grow apart?

4. Why does Blanca feel uncomfortable in her new house with the count?