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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. Fortius, a professor, could be seen patrolling the streets of the city, ______ any tulip that he encountered.

2. Appleseed used most of his crops in order to make ______, which led him to be thought of as an 'American Dionysus.'

3. When a buyer of tulips finished the sale, they were required to pay "wijnkoopsgeld" or ______ money.

4. Since Appleseed raised his trees from seed, most of the fruit was not suitable for _______.

5. In Holland, between 1634 and 1637, there was a collective frenzy around flowers known as ________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when a person plants the seed of an apple tree into the ground? Will the resulting tree produce the same apples?

2. Who are some of the groups which roamed the Ohio lands long before Johnny Appleseed was there?

3. What does Pollan find to be mythical about the story of Johnny Appleseed, although it is a true story?

4. Why did Pollan plant tulip bulbs when he was a child, according to his own reflections?

5. Why does Chapman not want to have anything to do with the grafting of apple trees in order to breed certain strains?

6. What are some of the ways in which flowers have been created to attract the attention of humans, according to Pollan?

7. How does Pollan describe the particular patch of garden versus the plants one finds in nature?

8. What are the colors and the shapes of flowers designed to do, according to some scientists?

9. What does the presence of flowers tend to tell a person about the area in which they are walking or traveling?

10. What happens when a person cuts an apple at its equator with a sharp knife?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When the reader sees that marijuana is one of the plants in the book, they can have a variety of reactions.

Part 1: Why do you think Pollan decided to include marijuana in this book?

Part 2: Do you agree that marijuana should be included in a book about how plants change humans as much as humans change plants?

Part 3: How do you think marijuana has affected humans, in your experience?

Essay Topic 2

The book's subjects are presented with objectivity at times, but not at other times.

Part 1: Do you think it's possible for a book to be completely objective?

Part 2: In what ways might Pollan have been able to be more objective in the way he writes this book?

Part 3: How do you think Pollan feels about the plants that he has chosen in this book?

Essay Topic 3

The story includes the idea that Johnny Appleseed spread the seeds of apples all over America, although no proof is given.

Part 1: Does it seem plausible that one man could have spread all of the apple seeds in the country?

Part 2: What do you think Johnny's motivations for spreading the seed might have been?

Part 3: Why is this story so nostalgic to those who live in America?

(see the answer keys)

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