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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did life in the 1950s make people feel?

2. Where did the Brysons spend Christmas of 1960?

3. What did the Thunderbolt Kid do to the man who drank out of Bryson's glass at Toddle House?

4. Who did Bryson think his real father must have been?

5. In what state did the military begin testing atomic bombs?

Short Essay Questions

1. How easy was it for Bryson to find somebody to play with?

2. Who was The Thunderbolt Kid?

3. What was Bryson's notion of how slowly time passed for kids?

4. What were some of the ways that boys could see glimpses of naked women?

5. Describe a typical experience of Bryson's family stopping to see his mother's family every time they went on vacation.

6. Describe the albino Lincoln Logs experience.

7. How did television change life for people in the 1950s?

8. What was the ritual Bryson had with his mother every Friday evening?

9. What were the results of the hydrogen bombs dropped by the United States in 1952 and 1954?

10. What behaviors did teenagers exhibit in the 1950s?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Create a "character" sketch of the city of Des Moines. What personality shines through for you for this city? Did Bryson make you want to learn more and perhaps visit one day? What would you most like to see? What is the one fact or interesting feature that you can recall about Des Moines? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Why did Bryson choose to use the first person perspective for the stories? What does this point of view entail? What do you know about the characters and the plot lines that you would not know from a different point of view? What do you NOT know about the characters and plot lines based on this point of view?

Essay Topic 3

One of the most striking characteristics of Bryson's writing is his complete honesty. Explain why this is necessary to complete a book of this nature. Would a reader be able to see through fabrications and falsehoods in a book like this? Describe why this format is the perfect for Bryson's personality.

(see the answer keys)

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