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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 is upstairs in the barn?

2. What was Mother saying as she rubbed Father's shoulders on the day Eldon sees them behind the barn?

3. What do Wayne and Eldon spend their afternoon doing?

4. Who does Eldon say gets the cream money and the egg money?

5. Why is the corn cultivated several times while it's still young?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the haying process.

2. Describe Eldon's childhood illness and the effect it has had on his life.

3. What is the first thing Eldon describes doing after the first snow?

4. What are the roles and the attitudes of Uncle David and Nels about the killing?

5. Describe what Father is working on during his evenings in the winter room.

6. What do Wayne and Eldon do after they find the western?

7. Describe the time when Wayne and Eldon carved their names into a tree. How did Eldon feel and what happened to the tree?

8. What do Eldon and Wayne do with the stack of straw near the barn and what do Mother and Father say about it?

9. Describe the stove in the winter room and what Wayne says the rails are for.

10. What are some of the things Eldon says happens when fall is over but winter hasn't yet formally arrived?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who helps Eldon's family when it's time for haying and threshing? Describes the days when the two families come together. Why are these important?

Essay Topic 2

Describe some of the work Eldon and the others do on the farm. Which of the jobs sounds most difficult? Which sounds most interesting? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Why do you believe the author presented the story in first-person? Were there other alternatives? What major aspects of the story would have changed if the author had changed the perspective?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 911 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample