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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 the answer to #31 show to Robert and his father?

2. What does Robert hear after he leaves school and wanders the countryside?

3. What do Robert's mother and aunt think is unusual about Robert's piglet?

4. What is Robert's father pleased about?

5. Where should Robert have been as Chapter 1 opens?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Robert's odd behavior after the hawk catches a rabbit?

2. What delight does Robert find waiting for him when he arrives home?

3. How is Aunt Mattie's exasperation also a source of humor?

4. How is Papa's sense of humor revealed in Chapter 3?

5. What is the relationship between Robert and Pinky?

6. Why is Robert not offended by the stench of animal slaughtering on his father?

7. How does everyone at the farm view the birth of the new kittens?

8. What is the literary technique used when Robert watches a crow kill a frog in a pond?

9. What is the irony of the rough blanket for Robert?

10. What situation of foreshadowing occurs in Chapter 7?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The reader is introduced to some Shaker folklore in Chapter 2 while the family is tending to Robert's wounds sustained while helping the cow. Cite at least three examples of Shaker folklore in the book and note why you selected these examples as representative of the Shaker culture.

Essay Topic 2

Papa at first does not want Robert to accept the gift of the piglet because it is a "frill." Explain what a frill is and why Papa would be so opposed to Robert's acquisition of one.

Essay Topic 3

Develop a character profile on Mama. What are her physical characteristics? What are her personality traits? What is important to her?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 975 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample