The Rocking Horse Winner

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which best describes the relationship the mother has with her children?

A) Smothering

B) Sisterly

C) Detached

D) Malignant

2. What does the mother’s response to her birthday gift reveal about her?

A) Her son can never truly satisfy her.

B) Money is the one thing that brings her peace.

C) She works hard for the little that the family has.

D) She is unbothered by financial concerns.

3. Read this excerpt from Paragraph 6:

“[The unspoken phrase] came whispering from the springs of the still-swaying rocking-horse, and even the horse, bending his wooden, champing head, heard it. The big doll, sitting so pink and smirking in her new pram, could hear it quite plainly, and seemed to be smirking all the more self-consciously because of it. The foolish puppy, too, that took the place of the teddy-bear, he was looking so extraordinarily foolish for no other reason but that he heard the secret whisper all over the house.”

Which of the following literary terms is used in this quote?

A) Paradox

B) Palindrome

C) Parable

D) Personification

4. What news briefly revives Paul before his death?

A) That Uncle Oscar was coming for a visit

B) That Malabar won the Derby

C) That his mother had finally learned to love him

D) That he had lost the last of his money

5. Which of the following demonstrates the theme of emotional incest in the story?

A) Paul’s mother confides her needs to her son, who then tries to fulfill them.

B) Paul has a closer relationship with his uncle, Oscar, than with his own father.

C) Paul has siblings, but they play almost no role in the narrative.

D) Paul continues to ride his rocking horse well past the age most boys do.

6. What do Uncle Oscar’s conversations with Bassett reveal about the two men?

A) Neither can explain how Paul is able to pick the winners.

B) Both men suspect that Paul learns the winners’ names from his father.

C) Both men are frightened of the rocking horse.

D) Neither one of them understands the finer points of horse racing.

7. In response to Paul, Uncle Oscar says, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, laddie!” (Paragraph 50). Which of the following literary terms does Uncle Oscar use in this quote?

A) Adage

B) Allegory

C) Allusion

D) Anaphora

8. How does the description of the house’s whispering affect the meaning of the story?

A) It confirms the presence of ghosts in Paul’s room.

B) It suggests the house was also telling him the names of the winning horses.

C) It highlights the theme of conspiracy.

D) It creates a tone of increasing agitation.

9. Which of the following describes a theme of the story?

A) Childhood gambling is a serious problem that must be prevented.

B) Families who hide their financial problems end in ruin.

C) Greed is a destructive force that cannot be satisfied.

D) Children will always try to please their parents.

10. How does this story reflect the social ideals of the Victorian era?

A) Characters comment on how drastically traditional family dynamics have changed.

B) Mother’s independent character shows the influence of the suffrage movement.

C) The importance of social status makes characters hyper-aware of changes in fortune.

D) The concern for impoverished gambling addicts leads the characters to act to protect Paul.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is the setting of the story? What details from the text help the reader understand the setting?

2. What is the structure of the story’s narration? How does this structure emulate a “quest”?