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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What adventures do Betsy and Josephine write and tell Phillip about concerning their father?
(a) Dancing with young women in bars.
(b) Fishing trips with friends.
(c) Dating older women.
(d) Golf outings with older women.

2. Phiilip left his family home in Memphis before he was how old?
(a) 25.
(b) 30.
(c) 20.
(d) 50.

3. What tone infects Betsy's written description of the people with whom her father is night clubbing?
(a) Admiration.
(b) Jealousy.
(c) Condescention.
(d) Anger.

4. What dance do Betsy and Josephine try and convince the bands to play?
(a) A foxtrot.
(b) A polka.
(c) A waltz.
(d) A tango.

5. Many dinner conversations between Mr. Carver, Betsy and Josephine revolved around what topic?
(a) Business.
(b) Real estate.
(c) Law.
(d) Betsy and Josephine's suitors.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do Betsy and Wyant stay behind in Huntington?

2. Where does Alex teach?

3. In what year does the relationship between Clara and Phillip end?

4. Where does Georgie work before joining the army?

5. Who does Alex turn to for advice when he is ready to make his career plans?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the end of Chapter 1, Phillip gives a detailed explanation of how the family's move to Memphis affected every member of the family. Who appears to have handled the transition the best? For whom was it the hardest? Discuss the impact on each of the four children and Mr. and Mrs. Carver.

2. In Chapter 2, Phillip gives a detailed account of the traveling party on their way from Nashville to Memphis. Who went to Memphis that day? How many cars were in the caravan? Who did Betsy drive with to Memphis and why? What people outside of the immediate family moved to Memphis? Why did Father arrange for everyone in the caravan to move together?

3. In Chapter 4, Phillip speaks of two important relationships in the novel. One is the friendship between Phillip and Alex. The other is the friendship between Alex and Mr. Carver. Father and son are not particularly close, but each are close to Alex. In this chapter, how does this triangle of friendship begin to display itself?

4. Phillip visits Alex in Paris during the war in Chapter 5. Describe their time together in Paris. What happens to them on the Rue de Rivoli one afternoon?

5. Alex Mercer is Phillip's closest friend in Memphis and he corresponds regularly with Phillip in Manhattan concerning Mr. Carver. In Chapter 3, Phillip discusses Alex's position and concerns about Mr. Carver's new status as a widower and subsequent dating. What are these concerns? Why does Alex worry so much about how Betsy and Josephine will react to their father's dating some of the women in town? How does he look upon the middle aged daughters of his friend and their behavior about town concerning their father?

6. In his letters to Phillip, Alex talks about Betsy and Josephine's involvement in the social scene in Memphis. In Chapter 3, Alex explains that the two women are rather considered a social institution in Memphis. But Alex also speaks at length about how the two women are the "laughing stock of the town." What does Alex mean by this? How does Phillip react to seeing his sisters when he visits?

7. As Mr. Carver continues to date and socialize, the two daughters appear to keep very close tabs on him. How does Phillip react to this? What is he able to see about his Father's situation based on the regular correspondence from Josephine and Betsy?

8. In Chapter 5, Phillip describes his summer at Fort Oglethorpe. What was this summer like for him? Why has he chosen this summer in particular to describe in detail?

9. In Chapter 3, Phillip paints a picture of his parents and his two sisters living in Memphis and their conversations about dating and the men they are both seeing. How does this appear to him when he is home visiting? How do Betsy and Josephine behave in front of their parents? What is the topic of conversation much of the time Phillip is visiting? How do the elderly Mr. and Mrs. Carver respond to their middle-aged daughters' banter?

10. In Chapter 2, Phillip recalls a conversation between his mother and a friend of hers from Nashville. In their conversation, the woman declares "you, my dear Minta, will love Memphis." Does Phillip's mother love Memphis? How does she adjust to her new home?

(see the answer keys)

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