Quiz Yesteryear Caro Claire Burke

Yesteryear Quiz

Plot and Sequence Questions (1–8)

  1. Multiple choice: After Natalie wakes in the freezing, dark version of her home, what event causes her to lose consciousness?

    • A) She falls down a set of stairs
    • B) Old Caleb slaps her
    • C) She faints from the cold
    • D) A child pushes her

  2. Multiple choice: What object does Natalie find buried in the dirt that makes her suspect her captivity might be staged?

    • A) A modern key
    • B) A broken piece of a lapel microphone
    • C) A cell phone
    • D) A wedding ring

  3. Short answer: What name does Maeve reveal their home is called?

  4. Multiple choice: How does Natalie conceive her second child after years of failed attempts?

    • A) Through fertility treatments
    • B) Using a turkey baster
    • C) After a religious ceremony
    • D) She adopts a child

  5. Multiple choice: What does Amelia leave for Nattie in the bathroom to help her cope with exhaustion?

    • A) A glass of water
    • B) Makeup and a pill
    • C) A note of encouragement
    • D) A rosary

  6. Multiple choice: What triggers Natalie’s religious epiphany that she and Caleb are meant to teach each other how to be proper man and woman?

    • A) A sermon at church
    • B) After agreeing to the Mills estate intervention and initiating sex
    • C) Reading a Bible verse
    • D) A conversation with her mother

  7. Short answer: What word does the protagonist find etched above the door of the log cabin in the woods?

  8. Multiple choice: In the epilogue, who writes a memoir titled The Book of Mary?

    • A) Clementine Heller Mills
    • B) Mary Heller Mills
    • C) Natalie Heller Mills
    • D) Reena Magliotti

Character Motivation Questions (9–13)

  1. Short answer: Why does seventeen-year-old Nattie resist looking back at her family when she boards the plane for Harvard?

  2. Multiple choice: Why does Natalie gloat internally when she meets Reena a year after her wedding?

    • A) Reena is still single
    • B) Reena’s boyfriend betrayed her and Natalie feels her conventional path has won
    • C) Reena has gained weight
    • D) Natalie has more money

  3. Multiple choice: What motivates Natalie to refuse the vineyard job and make a bet with Doug that she can “make a man” of Caleb?

    • A) She wants to move to the city
    • B) She has a religious epiphany that they are meant to teach each other
    • C) She hates her in-laws
    • D) She wants to prove she can be a better farmer

  4. Short answer: Why does the narrator suddenly declare to the neighbors at dinner that she is being held captive?

  5. Multiple choice: What motivates Natalie to teach six-year-old Clementine to produce a convincing smile?

    • A) She wants Clementine to be popular at school
    • B) She learned from the influencer course that her own smile looks fake
    • C) A photographer asked for a smiling child
    • D) She wants to prove she is a good mother

Theme and Symbol Questions (14–17)

  1. Multiple choice: The repeated reference to “Lot’s wife” and the command “don’t look back” symbolize which central conflict for Natalie?

    • A) Her fear of aging
    • B) The conflict between escaping her past and the danger of being frozen by it
    • C) Her struggle to choose between two lovers
    • D) Her desire to return to her childhood home

  2. Multiple choice: The broken lapel microphone that Natalie finds symbolizes which theme?

    • A) The importance of technology
    • B) Surveillance and performance—the possibility that her life is staged
    • C) Communication with the outside world
    • D) The failure of modern devices

  3. Short answer: What does the act of bread-making represent for the narrator during her captivity on the homestead?

  4. Multiple choice: In the epilogue, Mary’s reaction to seeing the highway for the first time symbolizes:

    • A) Her excitement about the modern world
    • B) The threshold between captivity and freedom, and the fear of the unknown
    • C) Her confusion about technology
    • D) The speed of modern life

Synthesis Questions (18–20)

  1. Short answer: How does the novel use the contrast between Natalie’s online persona and her real life to critique modern influencer culture? Name at least one example of a hidden reality that contradicts her curated image.

  2. Multiple choice: Which character serves as a foil to Natalie in the epilogue, offering a different perspective on survival and forgiveness?

    • A) Clementine
    • B) Reena
    • C) Mary Heller Mills
    • D) Abigail

  3. Short answer: In what ways does the novel suggest that the control exerted over women in traditional domestic roles can lead to both complicity and resistance? Provide one example of complicity and one example of resistance.

Answer Key

  1. B – In Chapter 1, when Natalie tries to flee, Old Caleb catches her and slaps her unconscious.
  2. B – In Chapter 13, Natalie trips and finds a broken piece of a lapel microphone in the dirt, leading her to suspect her captivity is monitored and staged.
  3. Yesteryear – In Chapter 9, Maeve tells the narrator, "Yesteryear, Mama! That’s what we call home."
  4. B – In Chapter 26, after years of failed attempts, Natalie secretly uses a turkey baster to conceive her second child.
  5. B – In Chapter 20, Amelia leaves makeup and a pill ("mother's little helper") in the bathroom for Nattie.
  6. B – In Chapter 18, after the intervention and initiating sex, Natalie has a religious epiphany that she and Caleb are meant to teach each other proper roles.
  7. MANOSPHERE – In Chapter 53, the protagonist finds a cabin with "MANOSPHERE" carved above the door.
  8. B – The epilogue reveals that Mary Heller Mills has written a memoir titled The Book of Mary.
  9. She thinks of Lot’s wife, who turned to salt for looking back – In Chapter 2, Nattie recalls the biblical story and resists turning around, determined not to be frozen.
  10. B – In Chapter 10, Natalie sees that Reena is miserable after her boyfriend’s betrayal and feels triumphant that her own marriage and pregnancy have outshone Reena’s career.
  11. B – In Chapter 18, after her epiphany, Natalie tells Doug she will find Caleb something better and bets she can "make a man of her husband."
  12. She is desperate to be rescued and tired of pretending – In Chapter 45, after months of captivity, the narrator seizes the chance to plead for help, but the neighbors deflect.
  13. B – In Chapter 32, after the influencer course tells Natalie her smile looks fake, she practices on herself and then teaches Clementine to fake a smile.
  14. B – The "don’t look back" refrain appears in Chapters 2 and 56, symbolizing Natalie’s need to escape her past without being frozen into immobility.
  15. B – The microphone in Chapter 13 suggests surveillance and that her entire pioneer life might be a staged production.
  16. Control, comfort, and a link to her domestic role – In Chapters 17 and 25, the narrator finds solace in kneading bread, a routine that gives her a sense of purpose within her captivity.
  17. B – In the epilogue, Mary describes her terror and awe at the highway, marking the transition from the isolated ranch to the outside world.
  18. The novel shows that Natalie’s Instagram portrays a perfect homesteading life while hiding struggles like financial ruin (Chapter 28), black mold (Chapter 26), and a failing marriage (Chapter 48). These contrasts critique how influencers curate a false reality for public approval.
  19. C – Mary Heller Mills, through her memoir and epilogue narration, offers honesty and forgiveness, contrasting with Natalie’s defensive self-justification.
  20. Complicity example: Natalie performs happiness for her in-laws and social media (Chapters 20, 30) to maintain her position. Resistance example: She eventually plans her escape (Chapter 47) and manipulates Caleb to avoid murder (Chapter 56). The novel shows that women in constrained roles can both perpetuate and subvert the system.