northanger abbey essay questions

Northanger Abbey

103 pages • 3 hours read

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Introduction

Before Reading

Reading Context

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

After Reading

Discussion/Analysis Prompt

Essay Questions

Exam Questions

Exam Answer Key

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

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Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

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1. The Tilney home, Northanger Abbey, is a mock-Gothic setting .

• How does Austen establish the mock-Gothic atmosphere of Northanger Abbey? ( topic sentence )
• Give at least three examples of imagery, language, or plot detail that support your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how this atmosphere helps to support the novel’s larger concern with The Difference Between Fantasy and Reality .

2. One of the targets of Austen’s satire in Northanger Abbey is the habit of using literature for cheap or petty purposes.

• What argument does the novel advance about the proper purposes of literature? ( topic sentence )

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Northanger Abbey Essay Topics & Writing Assignments

Essay Topic 1

The English class system of the early 19th Century is a prominent theme of "Northanger Abbey". The characters of the story must follow the social rules, and doing so often leads to obstacles, misunderstandings and separation. Discuss the effects that the social rules of the high class had on the central characters of the novel.

Essay Topic 2

One of Catherine's favorite things to do is reading Gothic novels. She seizes every opportunity to talk about Gothic novels with those she meets, and, as Gothic novels were quite popular during this time, her companion(s) often had an opinion of their own to share with Catherine. Research the Gothic novel and discuss its prominence in early 19th Century England.

Essay Topic 3

"Northanger Abbey" can easily be seen as a coming-of-age story. Catherine is introduced as a young lady of seventeen, and the novel concludes with a more...

(read more Essay Topics)

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Northanger Abbey

Jane austen, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Novels and the Heroine

From its very first sentence, Northanger Abbey draws attention to the fact that it is a novel, describing its protagonist Catherine Morland as an unlikely heroine. Catherine is “unlikely” because, in most of the novels of the late 18th and early 19th century, heroines were exceptional both in their personalities and in their lives’ circumstances, while Catherine is a rather average young woman. Throughout Northanger Abbey, Austen mocks typical novelistic conventions for their predictability, though…

Sincerity and Hypocrisy

Northanger Abbey describes the experiences of Catherine Morland, a sincere young woman raised in a small, rural parsonage, as she comes into her first sustained contact with the worldly and sometimes hypocritical world of society. Catherine has grown up being told explicitly how others viewed her and her behavior, but those she meets in Bath society sometimes lie about or hide their true opinions to influence or manipulate others. Specifically, Catherine is taken in by…

Wealth and Respectability

Northanger Abbey , like all of Jane Austen’s novels, looks closely at the role wealth plays in social relationships, especially those between young people considering marrying. For Austen, social rank is not only determined hierarchically, with the wealthiest and those with the highest rank in the aristocracy at the top and all others below. Instead, most of the characters in Northanger Abbey are not aristocrats (with the exception of Eleanor Tilney after she marries a…

Experience and Innocence

Like most of Jane Austen’s novels, Northanger Abbey is concerned with whether a young person will mature into a good judge of character. Some well-meaning adults in Northanger Abbey have blind spots that keep them from being objective judges of character, while other adults are manipulative, cruel, and hypocritical. As she navigates relationships with these different types of people, the pressing question for the young protagonist Catherine Morland is whether, in growing up and moving…

Loyalty and Love

Northanger Abbey is a courtship novel that goes against certain important conventions of “courtship novels,” especially to make the point that loyalty is the surest sign of true love. In most of the sentimental novels written during the time when Austen was working on Northanger Abbey , the heroine is exceptionally beautiful and the hero is head over heels in love with her. In Northanger Abbey , on the other hand, the roles are reversed…

Northanger Abbey

By jane austen, northanger abbey quiz 1.

• 1 1. Who is the protagonist of Northanger Abbey? Catherine Morland General Tilney Mrs. Thorpe Henry Tilney
• 2 2. Where does Catherine go with her neighbors the Allens? Bath London Northanger Abbey Fullerton
• 3 3. Who finds Catherine standing outside the door of Mrs. Tilney's former bedroom? Captain Tilney Isabella General Tilney Henry
• 4 4. How old is Catherine when she gets married? 17 16 15 18
• 5 5. Who is the first person that Catherine meets in Bath? Isabella General Tilney Mrs. Tilney Henry
• 6 6. What novel does Catherine enjoy reading during her stay in Bath? The Mysteries of Udolpho Camilla Clarissa The Romance of the Forest
• 7 7. Who does Catherine suspect of killing or abducting Mrs. Tilney? General Tilney Captain Tilney Isabella Miss Tilney
• 8 8. Where do Catherine, Henry, and Miss Tilney go during their walk in the country? Beechen Cliff Fullerton Northanger Abbey Claverton Down
• 9 9. Name one item that General Tilney mentions as a representative crop in his greenhouses. Pineapples Pears Apples Walnuts
• 10 10. Mrs. Allen is always worried about tearing which kind of possession? Her ball gown Her handkerchief Her playing cards Her carrying cards
• 11 11. Who does Isabella ultimately marry? No one Henry Tilney James Morland Captain Tilney
• 12 12. Who asks Catherine to go on a carriage ride when he arrives in Bath? John Thorpe Captain Tilney Henry Tilney James Morland
• 13 13. Where does Catherine meet Henry for the first time? The Pump Room Mrs. Allen's house The Lower Rooms The Thorpe House
• 14 14. Why does General Tilney drive Catherine out of his house? Because she accuses him openly of killing his wife Because she is not as rich as he supposed her to be Because she stole his family's valued heirloom, an antique quilt Because she insulted Henry by refusing to marry him
• 15 15. Why does Catherine have to reschedule her walk with the Tilneys in Bath? Because she is fickle about her friendships Because John lies to her and tricks her into going for a carriage ride Because she fell asleep during their original scheduled time Because she falls sick that day and is unable to go out
• 16 16. Where do Isabella and James become engaged? In a carriage on their way to Claverton Down At Isabella's house At a ball In Fullerton
• 17 17. Which phrase best characterizes Austen's attitude towards Gothic fiction? Deep Ignorance Appreciative Mimicry Malicious Hatred Gentle Irony
• 18 18. Who is the author of the Mysteries of Udolpho? Anne Radcliffe Charles Dickens Jane Austen Frances Burney
• 19 19. Who accompanies Catherine on her tour of Northanger Abbey? Mr. and Mrs. Allen General Tilney and Miss Tilney Captain Tilney and Henry Henry and Isabella
• 20 20. Name one author that Catherine reads during her childhood. Jane Austen Thomas Gray William Wordsworth Robert Browning
• 21 21. Who says the following quote: "I can't speak well enough to be unintelligible." Catherine Morland General Tilney Isabella Thorpe Henry Tilney
• 22 22. What do Miss Tilney, Catherine, and Henry primarily debate about during their walk to Beechen Cliff? History Books vs. Novels Friends vs. Strangers Life vs. Death Love vs. Solitude
• 23 23. Who says the following lines: "Yes, my dear Catherine, it is so indeed; your penetration has not deceived you. - Oh! that arch eye of yours! - It sees through every thing." Mr. Allen Henry Tilney Miss Tilney Isabella Thorpe
• 24 24. What is the name of the housekeeper that Henry cites during his Gothic horror story? Henrietta Eleanor Dorothy Mildred
• 25 25. Why does Isabella abandon James? She realizes that he will be poor and hopes to marry a richer man. She realizes that he is already married. She hopes to remain a spinster for the rest of her life. She would rather marry Henry.

Northanger Abbey Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Northanger Abbey is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What fantasy does Catherine wish Henry never learn about?

The only event I find that "might" apply to your question is as follows:

Nothing could now be clearer than the absurdity of her recent fancies. To suppose that a manuscript of many generations back could have remained undiscovered in a room such...

Why did Jane Austen exaggerate Catherines thinking?

Naïve, innocent, and imaginative, Catherine is the protagonist of the novel. Before going to Bath with the Allens, Catherine has never been away from her family home in Fullerton for an extended period of time. Catherine’s main occupation is...

Discuss Austen's depiction of space in Northanger Abbey. How are various locales described?

Austen is careful to invest each place with the personality of its owner. For example, Northanger Abbey reflects the General's preoccupation with outdoing his neighbors. The massive house is filled with luxurious furniture, and the General's...

Study Guide for Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey study guide contains a biography of Jane Austen, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Northanger Abbey
• Northanger Abbey Summary
• Character List

Essays for Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

• The Dangers of Innocence: An Examination of Austen, Blake, and Coleridge
• Realism or Romance
• Sense vs. Sensibility: Which is the Victor?
• Romantic Themes in Northanger Abbey
• Characterization of Isabella in Northanger Abbey

Lesson Plan for Northanger Abbey

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Northanger Abbey
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Northanger Abbey Bibliography

E-Text of Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey e-text contains the full text of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

• ADVERTISEMENT BY THE AUTHORESS, TO NORTHANGER ABBEY
• CHAPTERS 1-5
• CHAPTERS 6-10
• CHAPTERS 11-15
• CHAPTERS 16-20

Wikipedia Entries for Northanger Abbey

• Introduction
• Plot summary
• Composition
• Major themes

Victorian Novel Essay Questions:

1.)      Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey , which she did not see published in her lifetime, might be considered a kind of manifesto (or at least manual) for a new kind of novel dominated by realism.   One might think of Catherine Morland as an emblem of that transition by expressing, as she does, the intellectual movement from a world formed by reading (and false impressions) to a world shaped by very real and material factors.   Austen uses Catherine then as both an emblem and a device to explore a new way of addressing the world.   Develop an argument about Austenπs commitment to realism.   You might want to explore the ways in which Austen is directly prescriptive , or perhaps the ways in which she--as a novelist--encourages the reader to believe untenable Gothicisms (with Catherine)--only to explode the whole notion of unreasonable horrors.   2.) Austen's Northanger Abbey is also a critique of social practices that have emerged in the growing bourgeois culture of the early 19 th century.   Her playful use of the Gothic genre as a background, foregrounds social horrors that, for Austen at least, threaten the idea of the polite and civilized England that she believe must be sustained.   Consider the detail of the social construction of Northanger Abbey and situate them in terms of Austen's intentions to promote and sustain a clever, proper, and urbane society. 3.) Both Catherine Morland and Pip have, as young adults, absorbed certain kinds of perceptions about class and elite society.   Both, of course, find reasons to be both bitterly disappointed and pleasantly surprised by elements from every class level.   Both also find their way into a comfortable, industrious, and unostentatious middle class.   This mode of concluding both novels suggests something about class perceptions (and realities) that certainly deserves examination.   But it would not do to begin any examination without actually considering the fact that the novel ≠as a genreãis very much a middle-class genre, intended for a wide readership and expected to generate revenue like other bourgeois commodities.   Write a paper about either Northanger Abbey or Great Expectations (or both) that addresses issues of class in terms of plot and the representation of characters.   4.) Great Expectations creates, within a realistic context, an array of characters for whom expectations change dramatically from what they originally anticipated.   Some characters, like Miss Havisham and Abel Magwitch, try to manipulate fate in order to realize their expectations through others.   Some characters, like Jaggers, try to resist expectations entirely and still others, like Wemmick and perhaps Herbert, have learned to adapt expectations to circumstance.   Dickens, in his own right, wrestles with the idea of expectations in the sense that he considers multiple endings for his creation.   Consider the nature of how "expectations" function in the framework of the novel.   How do they respond to novelistic conventions, or to social practices, or to conventions of realism?