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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. Where are Jinx and Shady headed when they run into the sheriff on September 1, 1918?

2. What did Stucky Cybulskis write in the senior classroom?

3. What forced Miss Sadie to return home after she first tried to come to America?

4. What word does Abilene look up in the dictionary?

5. What is the newspaper contest Abilene comes up with called?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jinx do when he sees the two sheriffs who are in town?

2. Why do the people in the town think there might be a traitor amongst them?

3. What does Miss Sadie tell Abilene about the Widow Cane property?

4. Where in the classroom do the girls find Stucky's writing?

5. What does the man from the government who comes to Shady's bar do while he's there?

6. How does Devlin ask Mrs. Larkin to dinner?

7. Why is Miss Sadie's son not allowed to return to her country with her?

8. How does Abilene feel about the growth of Miss Sadie's garden?

9. How does Abilene discover who her father is in Manifest?

10. In "The Shadow of Death," what does Abilene realize about her compass?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss proving yourself to others in the novel.

1) Why does Ned go off to war? Why does he need to prove himself?

2) How do the characters in the town prove themselves to others, so that the town can cooperate?

3) How does Jinx prove himself to others in the town? How does he see himself, compared to how others see him?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss power in "Moon Over Manifest".

1) How does Devlin have power over others in the novel? How does he use his power?

2) How do the townspeople hope to gain power over their lives and working conditions? Why do they have to work together to gain power?

3) Who else in the novel holds power over others? How do adults hold power over children? How does the law exercise power?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the structure of the novel, which is non-linear, divided between two timelines.

1) How does the writer use letters and articles as part of the structure of the novel? How does the author use Miss Sadie's stories?

2) Why is the story told non-linearly, moving between a past and present timeline? How does this affect the story?

3) What other structural elements and transitions does the writer use and why?

(see the answer keys)

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