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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 is the name of the string of eight lakes that are featured in Mattie’s hometown in the novel?

2. What teacher of Mattie’s shows enthusiasm for her acceptance to Barnard College?

3. Who invites Mattie to her home and gives her books in Chapters 15-16?

4. Whose name does Mattie recall on the letters upstairs under her mattress in the opening of the novel?

5. Emily Baxter is said to be what kind of writer in the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Uncle Fifty’s character described when he arrives in Chapter 11?

2. Why has Uncle Fifty left in Chapter 12? How does his departure affect Mattie?

3. How is the character of Lawton Gokey described in the novel? How have Lawton’s actions influenced Mattie’s situation?

4. What is the crisis that occurs in the opening of A Northern Light? How does this crisis involve the protagonist of the novel?

5. Why does Mattie ask her Aunt Josie for financial help in Chapter 8?

6. What does Mattie realize while out boating with Royal Loomis in Chapter 15? How does she feel about the realization?

7. How is Minnie Compeau’s character described in Chapter 2?

8. How is Mattie’s family characterized in Chapter 1? What central tensions in the family are introduced in this chapter?

9. How is the character of Weaver Smith described when he is introduced in Chapter 2?

10. What parallels does Mattie make between her situation and that of Grace Brown in Chapter 10?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the characters of Weaver Smith and Minnie Compeau in the novel. How are Minnie and Weaver different as characters? What similarities do they share? How is each of their relationships to the protagonist depicted?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the theme of duty and obligation as seen in A Northern Light. How are Mattie’s duties to her family at odds with her desires to become a writer? When in your experience have you had to choose between duty and desire? What do you think Mattie should choose? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the history of African Americans during the turn of the century, particularly in New York state. When was slavery abolished and where did many of the former slaves flee to? What protections were in place at this time for African Americans? How is this history presented in A Northern Light?

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