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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 boat do the campers get to try?

2. What about Big Al Dagellio irritates the narrator?

3. What is the culminating event of the summer at camp?

4. The head of the camp swears in the boys with an oath and _____________________.

5. When does Ernie re-join his company after getting off the train?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator make comparisons between Skunk from summer camp and Umbaugh from college?

2. What are some New Jersey highway landmarks the narrator mentions?

3. What is the narrator's favorite snack and how does it add a bright spot to a dull weekend?

4. What does the narrator think about the New Jersey traffic circles?

5. Why does the book never mention the narrator's wartime experiences?

6. How did the fat Chipmunk earn the name of Skunk?

7. Why does the narrator question his impatience to get through the tunnel?

8. What prompts the narrator to think of his childhood summer camp days?

9. Why was forestcraft so boring to the narrator and his friends?

10. Describe the experience of Dan Baxter being punished for smoking cigarettes.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Shepherd was a master at dramatic devices. Choose an example of symbolism, metaphors, and irony. Briefly describe them and identify the technique which they embody.

Essay Topic 2

Why did Shepherd choose to use the first person narrator perspective for the stories? What does this point of view entail? What do you know about the characters and the plot lines that you would not know from a different point of view? What do you NOT know about the characters and plot lines based on this point of view?

Essay Topic 3

Shepherd wrote most of these stories with the theme of disappointment. Choose three situations from any of the stories and explain the disappointment in each. How did the narrator maintain any hope given the disappointments he always seemed to experience?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 963 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample