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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. Where does Phillip allow Alex to park his car?

2. How does Phillip begin his description of Mr. Carver and Mr. Shackleford?

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

4. When the Carvers return to Nashville, and the story comes out in the press, what does Mr. Carver say to his family?

5. What does Josephine whisper to Phillip on his way out of his father's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. In Chapter 11, Phillip puts together the story of his family's intrusion into his father's love affair with Clara Price. What does he realize, and how?

3. In Chapter 12, Phillip begins calling his father on a weekly basis. Why are those calls important to Phillip?

4. When Alex arrives in Memphis in Chapter 7, he sees his father waving to him from the runway. Describe Father's behavior upon seeing Phillip. What is happening that day? How does his father appear to Phillip?

5. In Chapter 10, how does Lewis Shackleford see his friend, George Carver? What traits does he admire in his friend?

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. 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?

8. In Chapter 12, Phillip gives the four leaf clover pendant to Holly. How does she respond? What does Phillip know from her response?

9. In Chapter 11, Phillip allows Alex's car to remain in the driveway which blocks his father's car from exiting. What debate might be waging in his mind while he delays his father's departure?

10. In Chapter 8, how does Phillip react to his sisters' actions? How does Alex react?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Phillip flies home from New York and from the plane, can see his father waving to him. Describe the scene at the airport, and compare this to the later scene in front of the church. How does Phillip react to his father in these scenes?

Essay Topic 2

Phillip realizes his father did not consider how the move to Memphis would affect all members of the family. Was the move to Memphis the only thing to affect the Carvers? Was there another factor at play, one much more dramatic than the move, that actually changed the course of everyone's lives?

Essay Topic 3

What is the climactic point in the novel? Is it believable? How does it change the action in the novel?

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