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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When Ariel suggests she may not attend Juilliard, what alternative does she present to her parents?
(a) Attending Yale University.
(b) Attending Mankato State and continuing to study with Emil Brandt.
(c) Staying at home to help her mother and father finish raising Frank and Jake.
(d) Getting married to Karl Brandt.

2. What topic is at the center of the large argument between Ariel and Ruth on the day of Ruth's chorale performance?
(a) Which of the two women knows Emil more thoroughly.
(b) Which of the two women is the better singer.
(c) Which of the two women is more ambitious.
(d) Which of the two women is the better cook.

3. What difficult task does Lise assign to Frank and Jake when the three are gardening together?
(a) The spreading of a truckload of gravel.
(b) The pulling of a large patch of weeds.
(c) The moving of a large rock.
(d) The fixing of a dilapidated fence.

4. What is the punishment that Frank and Jake receive as a result of playing at the tracks?
(a) They have to do Ariel's chores, as well as their own, for one week.
(b) They are not allowed to leave the yard without permission from a parent for one week.
(c) They are not allowed to use the phone for one week.
(d) They are not allowed to ride in Karl's sports car for one week.

5. Who arrives at Emil and Lise's house moments after the firemen have left with Emil?
(a) Ruth.
(b) Axel.
(c) Ariel.
(d) Karl.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Warren Redstone asks Frank what kind of name Drum is, what is Frank's reply?

2. What is the name that some people in town call Jake and that Frank calls him as well when he is angry?

3. Who touches Lise and sends her into a screaming fit after Emil attempted suicide?

4. Why is the old stone quarry the boys' usual choice of swimming site when there are three possibilities in town?

5. Where is the private hospital located where Emil goes to recuperate?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Frank and Jake come upon the Indian man and the apparently lifeless man referred to as Skipper, the Indian man says, "Know what I like about railroad tracks? They're always there but they're always moving" (32). When Jake replies, "Just like a river" (32), why is Frank shocked at Jake's reply?

2. What is the situation that results in Frank, Jake, and Nathan going to the jail in the middle of the night?

3. What lengths has Gus gone to in order to make sure Nathan does not know of the card games he runs in the basement of the church?

4. How does Nathan react to Father Peter's communication with him about the townspeople's problems with Ruth?

5. How does Frank convince his dad to give him the tire iron for the boys' walk home from the jail and what do they subsequently do with it?

6. What is the outcome of Nathan's and Gus' search for Travis Klement, the man they know to have beaten his wife and son?

7. What are the reasons Officer Doyle gives for finding Bobby Cole's death suspicious?

8. How does the scene at the old rock quarry reveal themes of adolescent sexuality through Frank's character?

9. What are the purposes of the Drum family's visit to Emil and Lise Brandt's house?

10. Where do Frank and Jake go just before Bobby Cole's funeral, and how does Jake's suit sleeve get ripped?

(see the answer keys)

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