Quiz And Now I Spill the Family Secrets Margaret Kimball

And Now I Spill the Family Secrets: 20-Question Reading Quiz

How well do you know the secrets? Take the quiz

This quiz covers all 21 chapters of Margaret Kimball’s experimental memoir And Now I Spill the Family Secrets. Questions range from plot and character motivation to themes and symbols, with a mix of multiple-choice and short-answer formats. After finishing, check the answer key at the bottom to see how you did.

Plot / Sequence (8 questions)

  1. Which chapter title directly announces the central hidden story that drives the narrator’s investigation?

    • A) Chapter 1: The Secret
    • B) Chapter 4: The Event
    • C) Chapter 7: The Silence
    • D) Chapter 20: The Epilogue

  2. What appears on the page of Chapter 5, "The Year"?

    • A) A calendar with dates
    • B) A single line of zeros repeated across the page
    • C) A narrative about twelve months
    • D) Family photographs

  3. Which two chapter titles form a two-part journey?

    • A) "The Move" and "The Blue House"
    • B) "The Trip Home: Part I" and "The Trip Home: Part II"
    • C) "The Proposal" and "The Wedding"
    • D) "The Long Weekend" and "The Birthday"

  4. Chapter 19, "The Interview," depicts what kind of interaction?

    • A) A therapy session
    • B) A direct conversation between the author and a family member
    • C) A job interview
    • D) A police interrogation

  5. Which chapter focuses on the dissolution of Margaret’s parents’ marriage?

    • A) Chapter 10: The Custody Battles
    • B) Chapter 15: The Divorce
    • C) Chapter 9: The Wedding
    • D) Chapter 21: About the Publisher

  6. In what order do "The Proposal" and "The Wedding" appear?

    • A) "The Wedding" first, then "The Proposal"
    • B) "The Proposal" first, then "The Wedding"
    • C) They are the same chapter
    • D) Only "The Wedding" appears

  7. Which chapter is titled "The Custody Battles" and contains only zeros?

    • A) Chapter 8
    • B) Chapter 10
    • C) Chapter 12
    • D) Chapter 18

  8. Short answer: What visual element appears at the start of Chapter 1, "The Secret"? (Describe in one phrase.)

Character Motivation (5 questions)

  1. Why does Margaret Kimball begin her investigation into the family story?

    • A) She is writing a school report
    • B) A deep secret has shaped her childhood and she is committed to uncovering it
    • C) Her therapist assigns it as homework
    • D) She wants to publish a bestseller

  2. In Chapter 19, what does Margaret do during the interview?

    • A) She listens passively
    • B) She asks clarifying questions about past events
    • C) She accuses the family member of lying
    • D) She shares her own memories first

  3. The repeated zeros throughout the memoir suggest that the narrator is motivated by a need to confront what?

    • A) Financial debts
    • B) Gaps in memory and narrative
    • C) A dislike of writing
    • D) Mathematical puzzles

  4. Short answer: Which family event is implied in Chapter 8, "The Proposal"? (One word: what kind of event?)

  5. Margaret’s search for truth is driven partly by the unreliability of what?

    • A) Newspaper articles
    • B) Memory
    • C) Legal documents
    • D) Social media

Theme / Symbol (4 questions)

  1. What does the repeated digit “0” (zero) primarily symbolize in the memoir?

    • A) Perfection
    • B) Emptiness, absence, and memory gaps
    • C) Infinity
    • D) The number of secrets

  2. Chapter 20, "The Epilogue," consists entirely of zeros. What does this suggest about closure?

    • A) The story reaches a happy ending
    • B) The memoir refuses traditional closure, leaving an open void
    • C) The author has forgotten the ending
    • D) The epilogue is a code to be deciphered

  3. Short answer: In Chapter 7, "The Silence," the lack of words embodies the theme of what? (One word.)

  4. The layout of Chapter 21, "About the Publisher," draws attention to which tension?

    • A) Between fiction and nonfiction
    • B) Between private family secrets and public distribution
    • C) Between past and future
    • D) Between writing and drawing

Synthesis (3 questions)

  1. How does the structure of And Now I Spill the Family Secrets differ from a traditional memoir?

    • A) It includes many photographs
    • B) Several chapters contain no narrative text at all, only visual patterns of zeros
    • C) It is written entirely in verse
    • D) It follows a strict chronological timeline

  2. Short answer: If a reader expects a typical memoir with full prose in every chapter, what might they find frustrating about this book? (One sentence.)

  3. Consider the effect of Chapter 5's full page of zeros representing a year. What larger statement does this make about traumatic memory?

    • A) Traumatic memory is always vivid and detailed
    • B) Some periods of trauma may feel empty or unrecordable in language
    • C) Time heals all wounds
    • D) All memories are equally accessible

Answer Key

  1. A) Chapter 1: The Secret. The title directly names the hidden family story that the narrator vows to uncover.
  2. B) A single line of zeros repeated across the page. According to the outline, Chapter 5 presents “a full page of zeros, one after another, likely representing the days of a year.”
  3. B) "The Trip Home: Part I" and "The Trip Home: Part II". Chapters 2 and 17 both carry the “Trip Home” title, suggesting a two-part journey.
  4. B) A direct conversation between the author and a family member. Chapter 19 depicts Margaret asking clarifying questions about past events.
  5. B) Chapter 15: The Divorce. The outline confirms this chapter focuses on the dissolution of the parents’ marriage.
  6. B) "The Proposal" first, then "The Wedding". Chapter 8 is “The Proposal”; Chapter 9 is “The Wedding.”
  7. B) Chapter 10. The outline lists “The Custody Battles” as Chapter 10, and the evidence shows only zeros.
  8. A row of zeros. The chapter opens with a line of zeros, visually representing emptiness.
  9. B) A deep secret has shaped her childhood and she is committed to uncovering it. From Chapter 1: “the existence of a deep secret that has shaped her childhood.”
  10. B) She asks clarifying questions about past events. The interview chapter is an active investigation.
  11. B) Gaps in memory and narrative. The zeros symbolize the unreliability of memory and family narrative.
  12. Marriage proposal. Though the chapter contains only zeros, the title implies a proposal.
  13. B) Memory. Throughout, the memoir emphasizes “the unreliability of memory.”
  14. B) Emptiness, absence, and memory gaps. The outline consistently interprets zeros this way.
  15. B) The memoir refuses traditional closure, leaving an open void. The epilogue’s grid invites interpretation but offers no resolution.
  16. Silence. The chapter’s title and blank text embody the unspoken.
  17. B) Between private family secrets and public distribution. The colophon highlights the publishing industry and the tension between private and public.
  18. B) Several chapters contain no narrative text at all, only visual patterns of zeros. Unlike a traditional prose memoir, this book uses visual and blank pages.
  19. They may be frustrated by the lack of story in many chapters, as several consist only of zeros without any events or dialogue. The experimental form prioritizes absence.
  20. B) Some periods of trauma may feel empty or unrecordable in language. The page of zeros suggests that the year held no narratable events or the memory is inaccessible.

Further resources