The Princess and the Goblin

Multiple Choice

1. C (Chapter 22)

2. A (Various chapters)

3. D (Various chapters)

4. C (Chapter 20)

5. B (Chapter 9)

6. C (Various chapters)

7. A (Chapter 21)

8. B (Various chapters)

9. D (Chapter 20)

10. B (Various chapters)

11. C (Chapter 13)

12. A (Chapter 1)

13. B (Various chapters)

14. D (Various chapters)

15. C (Chapter 27)

Long Answer

1. Grandmother has several objects that she imbues with magical powers and manipulates to help the ones she loves, including her moon-lamp, pigeons, the magical thread that she spins, the rose fire, the ointment, and the silver bath. The moon-lamp acts as a light and guiding beacon to protect Irene, Curdie, Curdie’s mother, and everyone else on the night of the goblin attack. The pigeons gather the spiderwebs needed for the thread, and a white pigeon often appears with the moon-lamp, possibly symbolizing Grandmother in another form. The magical thread connects Grandmother to Irene and to guides Irene to safety (as well as to save Curdie). The rose fire is used to imbue the magic thread and create the ointment that heals Irene (and later Curdie). The bath heals Irene as well. (Various chapters)

2. Humans and goblins detest one another. Humans see goblins as a subspecies and know them only for their mischief and aggression. The goblins see humans as evil rulers who stole their land and forced them underground. After the goblins attack the farmhouse and accidentally flood their own caverns, the royal family dies and many of the surviving goblins move away. The ones who remain learn to get along with the humans, and the conflict between them ceases. (Various chapters)

3. In the beginning, Irene is young, naïve, and led by her curiosity more than anything else. She knows nothing of the goblins or the miners and spends her time isolated at the farmhouse. Over the course of the novel, Irene ventures out onto the mountain and into the caverns, meeting Curdie and developing a bond with him, confronting goblins, and discovering her courage and strength. Irene also changes a great deal as a result of her relationship with her grandmother, as she learns to have faith and trust in things she cannot see (she also helps Curdie do the same). Irene matures as a person and becomes more like an adolescent by the novel’s conclusion. (Various chapters)