Edith Wharton's Ghost Stories

Did you know that, in addition to her critically-acclaimed novels (Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome, and House of Mirth) Edith Wharton also wrote ghost stories, many of them written as morality tales? Some of these include:

"Bewitched," 1925

This ghost story is considered "an interesting ghostly counterpart" to Ethan Frome. Similar in some ways to Hawthorne's "Ethan Brand" -- read at your own risk!

"Afterward" From Tales of Men and Ghosts, 1910.

A vengeful spirit from the past returns to strip Ned Boyne of the fortune he has made years ago under questionable circumstances.

"The Eyes" From Tales of Men and Ghosts, 1910.

Reminiscent of Poe's "William Wilson," this short story features protagonist Andrew Culwin, who is haunted by a pair of repulsive, disembodied eyes. Only much later does he realize that the eyes are apparitions from the future, a phantasmal projection of his own wizened conscience as it looks back upon his youthful indiscretions and self-deception.

"The Fulness of Life" 1893

A woman dies and meets her soul-mate, who turns out to be....

"Kerfol" 1916

One of Wharton's best ghost stories: quasi-Gothic architecture, an antiquarian immersion in the Renaissance past, some ghostly dogs — less terror but more haunting than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes ghostly canine tale The Hound of the Baskervilles. "Kerfol" depicts a ruined French estate haunted by the spirits of dogs, animals murdered by the previous owner in revenge for what he wrongly believed was his wife's adultery.

"The Lady's Maid's Bell" 1902

The ghost of a former maid continues to serve her mistress. Seeking to protect the woman, an invalid, from an encroaching danger, the dead maid's spirit rings her bell, but to no avail.

"The Triumph of Night"
A man becomes plagued by obsessive feelings of guilt after failing to respond to a nightmarish vision in which he sees his friend's death planned by a greedy uncle.

PSAT/SAT Question of the Day #5

Choose the word or set of words that, when inserted in the sentence, best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

Barbara McClintock's systematic examination of corn demonstrated the transposition of genes, a finding that overturned entrenched beliefs and proved that ------- study may produce brilliant insights and ------- change.

(A) haphazard . . radical
(B) inherent . . controversial
(C) improvised . . startling
(D) methodical . . revolutionary
(E) derivative . . gradual

Take your guess, and then check the comments box for the answer.

Extra Credit: Edith Wharton Quiz

"The Mount" -- Edith Wharton's Estate in Lenox, Mass.

Here's an end-of-the-quarter extra credit opportunity. If you can answer these ten questions about Edith Wharton correctly, I'll give you an extra 50 points. Many of you are on the bubble between grades, e.g., between an A+ and an H-. You must submit the answers to me in writing at the beginning of class on Thursday.

1 What was Edith Wharton's first published book?

2 What famous American author was Edith Wharton's good friend and traveling companion?

3 At about what age did Edith Wharton publish her first book of short stories?

4 Lily Bart is the heroine of which Wharton novel?

5 Published in 1917, this book set in the New England town of North Dormer featured a young heroine who falls in love with a visiting architect. What is it.

6 For which work did Edith Wharton win the Pulitzer Prize in 1921?

7 Wharton edited The Book of the Homeless and wrote Fighting France: From Dunquerque to Belforte to provide relief for refugees during what war?

8 In 1923, Edith Wharton was honored as the first woman to receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from what university?

9 The first draft of Ethan Frome was written in which language?

10 Although she traveled extensively before and after this time, after about 1913 Edith Wharton lived primarily in which country?

PSAT/SAT Question of the Day #4

Part of the following sentence is italicized; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A.

Scenes from the everyday lives of African Americans, which are realistically depicted in the paintings of Henry Ossawa Tanner.

(A) Scenes from the everyday lives of African Americans, which are realistically depicted in the paintings of Henry Ossawa Tanner.

(B) Scenes from the everyday lives of African Americans being realistically depicted in the paintings of Henry Ossawa Tanner.

(C) The paintings of Henry Ossawa Tanner realistically depict scenes from the everyday lives of African Americans.

(D) Henry Ossawa Tanner, in his realistic paintings, depicting scenes from the everyday lives of African Americans.

(E) Henry Ossawa Tanner, whose paintings realistically depict scenes from the everyday lives of African Americans.

Check the comments box for the answer!

Approved "Guiding Questions"

The following are guiding questions that have been approved. These questions should guide your initial research and culminate in the formation of a working thesis:

Julianna
How do the three methods of "time travel" in Time Out of Joint, Time and Again, and The End of Eternity bresult in the time-travel creators' "playing God," and what are, ot could have been, the consequences of their actions?

Ashley
How do Catch-22, Slaughterhouse-Five, and The Naked and the Dead show the effect of the imminence of death on soldiers fighting in World War II?

Jennifer
In what ways do Little Women, The Age of Innocence, and Peony portray the conflict between duty and personal interests in a moral light?

Larry
How do Mark Twain's novels and short stories portray maturity, the maturing process, or the lack of maturity in people and American society?

Sean
How do the characters in Chaim Potok's The Chosen, The Promise, and My Name is Asher Lev reconcile their faith and tradition with modern secular society?

Annmarie
What do Not Without Laughter, The Outsider, and Contending Forces have to say about black communities after the Civil War?

Olivia
In what ways do To Kill a Mockingbird, The Invisible Man, and A Lesson Before Dying express racial injustice through forms of government oppression?

Joseph B
How do Johnny Got His Gun, The Red Badge of Courage, and Slaughterhouse Five go about showing the effects war can have on a man?

Gabriela
How do Black Boy, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Uncle Tom's Cabin demonstrate that racism is incompatible with civil and natural law?

Elizabeth
In what ways do Contending Forces, Pudd'nhead Wilson, and Uncle Tom's Cabin scrutinize the absurdity and selfishness of putting one's own race above another?

Marcella
What do Willa Cather's My Antonia, O Pioneers!, and A Lost Lady have to say about the American Dream"?