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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 type of bushes does Miles plant in his garden to please Sarah?

2. Who is Mrs. Knowlson?

3. In Chapter 1, what reason does Miles give Jonah for not making pancakes for breakfast?

4. On what type of tour do Sarah and Miles go on?

5. In Chapter 1, what does Jonah say is the difference between the work his new teacher, Miss Andrews, assigns as compared to his previous teacher, Mrs. Hayes?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 9, Jonah is convinced Miles and Miss Andrews are going to get married because they are going on a date. How does Miles handle this situation?

2. What makes Miles suddenly realize he might like to ask Sarah to marry him one day?

3. In Chapter 13, Miles asks Sarah about living in the big city. What does Sarah tell him? How does he react?

4. Why does Miles insist that he is not a smoker? Who calls him a smoker?

5. Why does Jonah object in Chapter 5 to having to stay after school with Miss Andrews several times a week? How does Miles talk him into cooperating?

6. What does the unnamed narrator in Chapter 4 tell the reader kept Miles from looking for Missy on the day of her death when she was late coming home? Who told Miles about Missy's accident?

7. Why does Sarah tell Miles in Chapter 3 that she does not usually tutor students herself but will make an exception in this case?

8. How does Miles deal with Jonah's many nightmares?

9. In Chapter 7, why does Miles suddenly feel pressured to ask Sarah out? Why does he not do it?

10. In Chapter 1, what did Miles find in Jonah's backpack? What does Jonah have to say about it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is Miles Ryan? Why is he having trouble sleeping at the beginning of the novel? What is Miles thinking about? What has his life been like since the death of his wife? Why has the death of his wife touched his life so profoundly? Why does Miles worry about his son, Jonah? Why does Miles think he is not the type of man to be alone? What does this say about Miles' feelings for his wife, Missy? How do the opening chapters suggest that Miles has changed as a person since his wife's death? Are these changes good? Bad? How have they impacted Miles' life overall?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following themes in an essay:

1) Love.

2) Family.

3) Grief.

4) Moving On.

Essay Topic 3

Who is Missy Ryan? How did she die? What does the unnamed narrator say about Missy? Why does the unnamed narrator make it clear that this book is not about Missy? What was Miles and Missy's relationship like? How might their lives had played out if Missy had not been killed? What impact did Missy's death have on her son? What impact did it have on her husband? How did Missy's death impact the small town of New Bern? How do these changes play a role in this novel?

(see the answer keys)

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