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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. Why does Ann decide to kill one of the older hens?

2. How does Ann treat her bullet wound?

3. What does Loomis tell Ann he heard while delirious?

4. How long had the system between Ann and Loomis worked out alright?

5. What does Ann give Loomis?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Mr. Loomis express his anger and what does Ann do?

2. Why does Ann think she can return to the fields to work and why does Loomis yell at her?

3. What does Ann observe the next day as she is watching the house and what does she think about?

4. What puzzles Ann when she is reading poetry to Mr. Loomis?

5. What do Ann and Mr. Loomis argue about concerning the crops?

6. Why does Ann decide to ask Mr. Loomis questions and what happens as a result?

7. How is Mr. Loomis using Faro?

8. What does Ann discover about the tractor, and what does she do?

9. What happens in the middle of the night that convinces Ann to move out of the house?

10. Why does Ann have to abandon her cave and what does Mr. Loomis do there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. Do you think Ann is wise to leave the valley? Do you think the implication is that her dream of teaching children is prophetic and that she will find others? Why or why not?

2. Would you have chosen the same route as Ann, i.e., leaving the valley. Why or why not?

3. How well do you think Ann will survive journeying out into a dangerous world?

4. Do you think Mr. Loomis redeems himself by pointing Ann in a likely direction to begin her journey? Give an in depth response.

Essay Topic 2

Ann makes the decision to observe the man who has decided to bathe in Burden Creek, which Ann knows is dead and probably poisoned either with radioactivity or some other by-product of the war. Discuss the following:

1. Does Ann make a wise decision to still not show herself when the man is entering the water?

2. Is Ann's decision not to run down and stop the man a lack of compassion? Kindness?

3. Would you have made the same decision that Ann makes? Why or why not?

4. Do you think Loomis is justified in being angry with Ann when he learns that she watched him enter the dangerous water and did nothing? Is he angry? Discuss the psychological/emotional dynamics of the situation.

5. Was Ann responsible for warning Loomis even if it reveals her presence? Do you have a responsibility to warn someone if you observe them doing something that could injure or kill them? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Samuel Taylor Coleridge once said that in reading fantastical or non-realistic literature, the reader must be willing to suspend his/her disbelief. Discuss the following:

1. In Chapter 6, Ann along with the reader learns that John Loomis walks from New York to somewhere in Pennsylvania through hundreds of miles of radiation-laden country, along with other poisons such as nerve gas. Is it possible to suspend one's disbelief in order to "play along" with the scenario the author sets up? Is it likely that in the 1960s, a plastic would have been invented that protected one from the effects of radiation exposure? Does this unlikely scenario make you more or less inclined to be engaged with the rest of the story? Explain your answers.

2. What are two other improbable situations in this book that one has to accept in order to engage with the story? Do you have trouble with either situation you name?

3. Are there any situations that stretch your imagination too far and makes you unable to accept the basic premise of the book? What is (are) it (they)?

4. Are you willing in your reading experiences to accept some unrealistic situations in order to become engaged in a book? What would be the purpose of doing so?

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