Quiz Witchcraft for Wayward Girls Grady Hendrix

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls: Full-Book Quiz

Quiz Instructions

This 20-question quiz covers the entire novel Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. Questions are divided into four categories: plot/sequence (8 questions), character motivation (5 questions), theme/symbol (4 questions), and synthesis (3 questions). Formats include multiple-choice and short-answer. An answer key with brief explanations follows the quiz.

Plot/Sequence Questions (8)

  1. What event causes Neva’s father to drive her from Alabama to the Florida Home for unwed mothers?
    A) She is caught shoplifting.
    B) She reveals her six‑month pregnancy.
    C) She runs away from Aunt Peggy’s house.
    D) She is expelled from school.

  2. After arriving at Wellwood House, what new name is Neva given?
    A) Daisy
    B) Rose
    C) Fern
    D) Holly

  3. What item do Fern and her friends use in their first successful spell—the Turnabout—to transfer Zinnia’s morning sickness?
    A) A chicken heart
    B) An egg, lemon juice, and a chant
    C) A Nehi bottle
    D) A silver coin

  4. What does Rose tear off her own body to pay the price of the curse on Miss Wellwood?
    A) A lock of hair
    B) Two fingernails
    C) A drop of blood from her tongue
    D) Her wedding ring

  5. Who interrupts the girls’ rain‑conjuring ritual at the river and later burns their witch book?
    A) Miss Wellwood
    B) Hagar
    C) Miss Parcae
    D) Nurse Kent

  6. After giving birth, what name does Fern give her baby?
    A) Blossom
    B) Holly
    C) Charlie Brown
    D) Jane Doe

  7. Where does Holly finally escape with her baby at the end of the novel?
    A) With Reverend Jerry
    B) With the coven, led by Periwinkle
    C) To a waiting taxi driven by Darius
    D) Back to her parents’ home

  8. What is the final line of the novel’s penultimate chapter (“2,817 Weeks”)?
    A) “When was the last time you saw their face?”
    B) “So mote it be.”
    C) “The flame must be carried.”
    D) “Baby is now fifty‑four years old.”

Character Motivation Questions (5)

  1. Why does Fern agree to become a witch in Miss Parcae’s coven?
    A) She wants revenge on her father.
    B) She wants to keep Holly from going home.
    C) She wants to marry Guy.
    D) She wants to escape the Home herself.

  2. What is Rose’s primary motivation for cursing Miss Wellwood?
    A) Miss Wellwood took her cigarettes.
    B) Rose’s baby, Blossom, was taken from her by the adoption system.
    C) Miss Wellwood forced Rose to work in the kitchen.
    D) Rose wants a permanent place at the Home.

  3. Why does Zinnia initially refuse to participate in more witchcraft after the Turnabout spell?
    A) She believes the magic is dangerous and a trick.
    B) She is afraid of Hagar.
    C) She wants to go home immediately.
    D) She dislikes Miss Parcae personally.

  4. Why does Miss Parcae want Fern to become the next host of the Hecate line?
    A) She is dying of liver cancer and needs an heir.
    B) She wants revenge on Fern for stealing the book.
    C) She believes Fern is the only one who can read the grimoire.
    D) She is forced by the coven to choose someone.

  5. What drives Holly to offer herself to the coven instead of Fern?
    A) Holly wants eternal loyalty to Miss Parcae.
    B) Holly believes she is the only one carrying the witch line.
    C) Holly wishes to protect Fern and Zinnia, and escape Reverend Jerry.
    D) Holly wants to raise her baby in the coven.

Theme/Symbol Questions (4)

  1. The repeated motif of the salt barrier and silver horseshoes at Wellwood House primarily symbolizes:
    A) The girls’ desire for cleanliness.
    B) Protection from supernatural evil and institutional oppression.
    C) The Home’s strict dietary rules.
    D) The coven’s need for ritual tools.

  2. In the initiation ritual (Chapter 14), the girls walk widdershins (counterclockwise) and recite the Lord’s Prayer backward in pig Latin. This “reading free” represents:
    A) Their rejection of patriarchal religion and control.
    B) A childish game to pass the time.
    C) A memorization test for coven membership.
    D) Their desire to learn Latin.

  3. The scene in which Hagar delivers Miss Wellwood’s eel‑like baby (Chapter 22) most directly highlights:
    A) The supernatural consequences of suppressed trauma.
    B) The Home’s poor medical care.
    C) Miss Wellwood’s cruelty to the girls.
    D) Hagar’s skill as a midwife.

  4. The unanswered question “When was the last time you saw their face?” at the end of the novel powerfully conveys:
    A) The author’s own confusion about the plot.
    B) The enduring loss and memory of the baby given up for adoption.
    C) A request for readers to write a sequel.
    D) Fern’s happiness with her new life.

Synthesis Questions (3)

  1. Short answer (2–3 sentences):
    How does the novel use the concept of “the Witch’s Sixpence” (the blood price) to comment on the cost of seeking power within a system that denies you autonomy?

  2. Short answer (2–3 sentences):
    Compare Fern’s final act of mercy—sparing Reverend Jerry in Chapter 36—with the girls’ earlier use of curses. What does this contrast suggest about the nature of true power?

  3. Short answer (2–3 sentences):
    The novel ends with Holly and her baby escaping with the coven, while Fern returns home with her father. How does this double outcome reinforce the book’s message about the limits of magical solutions versus human solidarity?

Answer Key

  1. B – Neva’s father drives her to the Home after learning she is six months pregnant (Chapter 1).
  2. C – Miss Wellwood renames Neva “Fern” as part of the Home’s identity erasure (Chapter 3).
  3. B – The Turnabout spell uses an egg, lemon juice, and chants to transfer sickness (Chapter 10).
  4. B – Rose tears off her own fingernails as the blood price for the curse (Chapter 19).
  5. B – Hagar catches them at the river, makes them bury the bottled storm, and burns the book (Chapter 24).
  6. C – Fern names her daughter “Charlie Brown” (Chapter 30).
  7. B – Periwinkle accepts Holly and her baby into the coven after Holly offers herself (Chapter 36).
  8. A – The chapter ends with: “When was the last time you saw their face?” (Chapter 38).
  9. B – Fern’s heart’s desire during the ritual was “for Holly not to go home” (Chapter 14).
  10. B – Rose acts after her baby Blossom is forcibly taken for adoption (Chapter 19).
  11. A – Zinnia warns that witchcraft is dangerous and refuses further participation after the glossary appears (Chapter 15).
  12. A – Miss Parcae reveals she is dying of liver cancer and needs a successor for the Hecate line (Chapter 21).
  13. C – Holly offers herself to stop Miss Parcae from forcing Fern; she also wants to escape Reverend Jerry (Chapter 36).
  14. B – The salt and silver are practical wards against Miss Parcae’s coven, symbolizing the thin line between safety and supernatural threat (Chapter 25).
  15. A – The inversion of Christian prayer rejects the patriarchal God that failed them (Chapter 14).
  16. A – The eel‑like birth embodies Miss Wellwood’s repressed trauma from her past (Chapter 22).
  17. B – The question forces readers to reflect on the abandoned baby’s lifelong absence (Chapter 38).
  18. Model answer: The Witch’s Sixpence requires a blood sacrifice, showing that power under patriarchy is never free. The girls pay with their own bodies, echoing the physical and emotional costs they already bear.
  19. Model answer: Earlier curses aim to harm oppressors, but Fern’s mercy toward Reverend Jerry rejects revenge. This suggests that true power lies in choosing compassion, not perpetuating cycles of suffering.
  20. Model answer: Holly’s escape through witchcraft offers a supernatural solution, but Fern’s return home without magic shows that real change comes from human bonds and individual choices. The novel argues that while magic is a fantasy, solidarity with friends offers tangible hope.