We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“I Have Always Lived in the Castle”

Echoing the title, Merricat says of the burned Blackwood house, “Our house was a castle, turreted and open to the sky.” In this activity, students are asked to build models of the places they “have always lived.”

Consider the ways in which the Blackwood house is a castle. The fence serves as a kind of moat to set the perimeter of the property. The locked gate serves as a kind of fortification to protect the property. The locked doors, curtained windows, and eventually Merricat’s barricade all serve as defenses. In essence, Merricat’s castle is a defensive structure that supports her need to block out the outside world. For this activity, you will design your own structure that reflects a quality that is important to you.

Part One: Design and Label Your Structure

• In designing your model, think about whether your structure will support defense, openness, or another quality that is important to you in the way that you live your life.
• Consider the ways in which your structure speaks to your origin, development, experiences, and familial and social roles.
• Also consider the ways in which your symbolic home interacts with other settings in your life, just as Merricat’s castle interacts with the forest and the village.
• Label each element of your structure with its purpose.

Part Two: Look for Connections

• When your drawing is complete, write a paragraph that compares the structure and purpose of your symbolic home to Merricat’s home and the purpose it serves for her.

Teaching Suggestion: To begin, students may brainstorm different types of housing. Record their ideas and discuss the symbolism of each. Students can draw their dwelling as a floorplan, an elevation, or an artistic rendering; it may be beneficial to review the differences.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with motor skill challenges may design their models using computers.

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.

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.

1. Although Merricat tells readers she is 18 at the beginning of the novel, she is treated as a child, living according to rules regarding what she may touch or where she may go. This disparity leaves Merricat in a state of arrested development with regard to womanhood. On the other hand, Constance’s womanhood is defined by her domesticity, or her service to others.

• What do either Merricat or Constance show readers about the theme of Womanhood and Domesticity? Choose one character on which to focus. (topic sentence)
• How does the character you chose to explore illustrate the transition from childhood to womanhood? What role does domesticity play?
• In your closing sentences, discuss whether your chosen character matures beyond her role in the novel.

2. Different characters in the novel view Merricat differently. To Constance, Merricat is a playful child. To Cousin Charles, Merricat is a demon. To the villagers, Merricat is an object of ridicule. Merricat, in turn, portrays herself as the thematic Misunderstood Genius.

• Is Merricat a misunderstood genius, a demon, or something else? (topic sentence)
• Cite three examples of Merricat’s behavior and defend each as an example of genius, evil, or something else.
• In your closing sentences, explain Merricat’s role in the novel.

3. Merricat declares a mutual hatred between the Blackwoods and the villagers.

• Why do the villagers hate the Blackwoods? (topic sentence)
• Explain the Small-Town Class Relationships at work in the novel.
• In your closing sentences, explain the ways in which this hatred extends to the destruction of the Blackwood house and then to remorse and repentance.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Uncle Julian says Merricat is dead, but she narrates the story. Merricat refers to Cousin Charles as a ghost or a demon. Merricat herself claims to perform magic. How does this confusion between reality and otherworldliness operate to distance readers from the true history of the Blackwood family? Why might the author have made this choice? Cite text evidence to support your claim.

2. Uncle Julian repeatedly seeks affirmation that the Blackwood murder occurred. He claims Constance is innocent, despite evidence to the contrary. He also says he will be forced “to invent, to fictionalize, to imagine” the family story if no one contributes their memories. (Chapter 5) What is Jackson saying through this character with regard to the legacy of family stories? Cite text evidence to support your claim.

3. Constance admits that she has known all along about Merricat’s guilt. She willingly stands trial to protect Merricat, and she cares for Merricat afterward. Why does Constance protect Merricat? Cite text evidence to support your claim.

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

Multiple Choice

1. Which metaphor explains Merricat’s trips to the village?

A) Game

B) Castle

C) Summer house

D) Hiding place

2. What is the importance of the Rochester House in relation to the Blackwood family?

A) Its location in the village vexes Merricat.

B) Constance hopes to one day own the house.

C) Merricat’s father was born in the house.

D) Its decay parallels the decay of the Blackwoods’ house.

3. Why does Jim Donell question Merricat in Stella’s coffee shop?

A) He wants to confirm a rumor.

B) He wants the Blackwoods to leave town.

C) He wants to show off in front of Stella.

D) He wants to cement his friendship with Joe.

4. Why do the Blackwoods live in the back rooms only?

A) As the family shrinks, they don’t want to clean the whole house.

B) The upper floor reminds them of their lost family members.

C) As the family shrinks, so does their living space.

D) The upper floor is reserved for their guests.

5. How do Merricat’s three magic words work?

A) They protect the house until someone says them aloud.

B) The words are chanted daily by Merricat.

C) The words correspond to buried items.

D) They protect Constance against failure in her garden.

6. Why is it important that Merricat nails her father’s book to a tree as a talisman?

A) Merricat’s father bankrupted the family.

B) Merricat’s father argued with Constance.

C) Merricat’s father doted on Merricat.

D) Merricat’s father possessed power over her.

7. Why does Merricat bury things on the property?

A) The objects are no longer needed.

B) The objects set a perimeter of safety.

C) The objects belong to family members.

D) The objects are meant for Jonas to find.

8. Why is Uncle Julian obsessed with writing down the history of the Blackwood family?

A) He isn’t sure the murders occurred.

B) He wants to clear doubt surrounding Constance.

C) A written history preserves the family.

D) A written history erases the stigma of the murders.

9. Why is it important that Charles resembles John?

A) It seems as if John has come back to torment Merricat.

B) Uncle Julian cannot tell the difference between John and Arthur.

C) Constance is thrilled to have some sense of her father in the house.

D) It seems as if John will protect his daughter from Charles.

10. What seems to be the real reason for Cousin Charles’s visit?

A) Loyalty

B) Greed

C) Curiosity

D) Marriage

11. Why does Uncle Julian reject Cousin Charles?

A) He wants to protect Merricat from Charles.

B) He thinks Charles will steal his papers.

C) He never liked Charles’s father, Arthur.

D) He associates Charles with John and selfishness.

12. Why does Merricat go to her shelter in the woods?

A) To separate herself from the family

B) To cause Constance to worry

C) To trick Cousin Charles into seeking her

D) To hide from her cat, Jonas

13. Why is it likely that Merricat poisoned her family?

A) She didn’t like her parents.

B) She didn’t like her brother.

C) She didn’t like the dessert.

D) She didn’t like being punished.

14. How does the tablecloth Merricat wears serve to deepen symbolism in the novel?

A) It shows Constance, who sustains the family by feeding them, now symbolically also clothes Merricat.

B) It shows Merricat, who poisoned the family with a table setting, now symbolically becomes part of a setting.

C) It shows Merricat, who finds power in magical objects, now symbolically also finds power in an ordinary item.

D) It shows Constance, who wonders about the place Merricat calls the moon, now symbolically enjoys her sister’s odd ways.

15. Why is it important that vines form the new roof of the Blackwood house?

A) Vines symbolize death.

B) Vines symbolize survival.

C) Vines symbolize religion.

D) Vines symbolize progress.

Long Answer

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

1. Throughout the novel, why do Merricat and Constance keep mentioning loving each other and being happy?

2. The narrator’s name is Mary Katherine. Her nickname is Merricat. Notice the spelling changes to achieve the contraction of “Merry Cat.” Jonas, Merricat’s cat’s name is a form of John, Merricat’s father’s name. Merricat frequently has conversations with Jonas, seeming to believe the cat speaks back to her. What is the symbolism of these naming conventions?