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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 does Phillip come to realize his father has yearned for all of his life?
(a) Individuality and otherness.
(b) Control and power over others.
(c) Wealth and acclaim.
(d) Freedom and independence.

2. In Chapter 8, what is one thing Phillip imagines his father will do next?
(a) Take a safari to Africa.
(b) Begin drinking heavily.
(c) Wait three months for Mrs. Stockwell to return.
(d) Lock himself in his room.

3. Who does Phillip see on the other side of the restaurant?
(a) Wyant Brawley, his wife and their children.
(b) Clara Price, her husband and children.
(c) Clara Stockwell and her husband.
(d) Clarkson Manning, his wife and their children.

4. When Phillip sees his father for the weekend getaway, how does Mr. Carver look?
(a) He is feeble and unhappy.
(b) He seems to be healthier and happier than ever.
(c) He seems to have shrunken, his hair has thinned, and his sight is bad.
(d) He has lost his ability to walk without assistance.

5. How does Phillip describe himself and Holly?
(a) "Lucky."
(b) "Old bags."
(c) "Stubborn."
(d) "Free spirits."

Short Answer Questions

1. How is George Carver regarded by the townspeople?

2. What did Holly imagine she would do when she leaves Cleveland and moves to New York fifteen years before?

3. Where do Phillip's sisters live after their father dies?

4. What kind of car does Mr. Carver drive?

5. What does Phillip realize about his sisters while at the restaurant?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 10, Phillip comes to a realization about his father and the move to Memphis. What does he decide regarding his father's move with the family to a new city to begin again?

2. During the drive from the church to Mr. Carver's home in Chapter 8, Phillip begins thinking of what his father might do next. What things does he think are possible? Why does he believe his father might do any of them?

3. In Chapter 8, Betsy and Josephine have prepared a bed for Phillip in their father's study. However, Phillip does not stay. He leaves his father and sisters and returns to New York. Why does he not remain and defend his father against his sisters? Why does Phillip leave so hastily?

4. In Chapter 8, Alex, Phillip and Father pull up to the house from the church. What is happening as they arrive? Why?

5. In Chapter 7, Phillip compares the life he knows in his father's house in Memphis and his apartment in New York. How do the two residences differ? How does Phillip feel about the contents of his family home in Memphis and the contents of his apartment?

6. While flying to Memphis in Chapter 7, Philip thinks about his course of action with his sister who he fears are planning vengeance on their father. What does Phillip want to convince the sisters to do?

7. What is Betsy's stated reason for Father not going to see Lewis Shackleford in Chapter 11? What is the real reason?

8. When Mr. Carver dies in Chapter 12, Holly's father also dies. The two of them return to New York after the funerals, and continue their lives together there. Phillip describes them both as "serenely free spirits." What has caused him to characterize himself and Holly in this way?

9. At the end of Chapter 12, what does the reader know about all of the main characters?

10. In Chapter 9, Phillip gives us a glimpse of Holly's life. How do we learn about Holly and how she fits into her family?

(see the answer keys)

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