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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. Who helps Howard with the girls and provides dinner in the evenings?

2. Whom do Howard and the girls see on the way home from the jail?

3. What does Dan do to avoid thinking about Lizzy?

4. With what natural disaster is Howard dealing during this time?

5. Howard and the girls move into a townhouse at _____________________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the purpose of the interviews conducted with Alice's daughters and the Child Welfare Office?

2. How does Alice feel about Rafferty's plans for her and for the trial?

3. What is Howard's interpretation of Alice's fleeing from the girls when they visit the jail for the first time?

4. What is happening in the Goodwin's lives that starts to let them feel normal again?

5. How does Howard describe his state of confusion in Chapter 11?

6. How do Howard and the girls prepare to move out of the farmhouse?

7. How does Theresa add comfort to the lives of Howard and the girls at the same time that the farm is dying?

8. How is the Goodwin family's life in the apartment radically different from the farm where they belong?

9. How does Alice describe jail and why is it so difficult for her?

10. How does the sale of the farm affect both Howard and Alice?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author uses more than one iteration on the theme of loss. Identify at least two examples about loss in the book. Then explain how each example supports the theme of loss.

Essay Topic 2

Hamilton is 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 3

Prejudice takes on an almost human persona in this story. What is this literary technique called? Cite three examples that support this position.

(see the answer keys)

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