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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. What does Jeannette try to talk her mother into doing to make hers and the children's lives better?

2. Where do the children go to shower after there is no longer any bathroom in their house?

3. Where does Erma tell the children to go stay after the argument with Lori?

4. What happens to the money that Jeannette is supposed to use to feed the family in Part 3?

5. In Part 3, Jeannette and Lori make big plans to do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Rose Mary quit her job, and what is Jeannette's reaction?

2. Rex is largely absent from the family after they move to Welch. What has he been doing during this time?

3. When Erma dies, how does the Walls family react? How is Rex's reaction different from the rest of the family?

4. What happens when Jeannette makes an attempt to fix up her family's ramshackle home in West Virginia?

5. Why do Rex and Rose Mary follow their children to New York City to live?

6. What is Jeannette's reaction when a social worker comes to visit the home, and what does she tell her parents about it?

7. Why does Rose Mary decide to hang on to the diamond ring that the children find in the woods rather than selling it for much needed money? What does this say about her priorities?

8. How does Rex, despite all of his problems, show his devotion to Jeannette during her college years?

9. Why does Jeannette enjoy swimming with Dinitia more than going to the pool during the other swim sessions when the rest of the white children in Welch swim?

10. How are Brian, Maureen, and Jeannette's ways of coping with their home life differ? What does each of them do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Grandma Smith and Erma.

1) What, if any, traits or beliefs do the two women share?

2) How are there personalities different and how does this affect Jeannette's relationship with each of them?

3) How do the personalities of each of these grandmothers reflect on the behavior and personalities of their children (Rex and Rose Mary)?

Essay Topic 2

Life is hard for the Walls family wherever they go. However, in different places it is hard in different ways. Compare their lives in Phoenix, Battle Mountain, and Welch, answering each of the following questions about each location:

1) What are the family's basic living conditions like?

2) What is Rose Mary's emotional condition like and how does it affect the rest of the family?

3) Discuss Rex's emotional condition as well.

Essay Topic 3

Jeannette's relationship with her mother is conflicted, yet she still feels a fondness and compassion for her as an adult. Discuss the relationship between these two women by answering the following questions:

1) How would you characterize the relationship between the two?

2) How does each of these women play both an adult and a child's role?

3) How does the relationship between them change over time?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 974 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample