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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. Once back in their routines together, Alex and Holly find themselves talking about what subject?

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

3. What do Alex and Holly talk about when he goes to see her at her apartment?

4. Where does Mr. Carver always buy his hats?

5. What does Phillip realize about Holly?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 9, Phillip visits Holly in her apartment in the hopes of a reconciliation. What do the two of them talk about for the first time openly and honestly? What has happened in Holly's life during their separation?

2. 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?

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

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

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. While at Sunday supper with his family at Owl Mountain in Chapter 11, Phillip sees both Clara Price and Lewis Shackleford in the dining room. How does Phillip react to both of these important people?

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

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Phillip often mentions his sister's outlandish appearance and behavior in their middle age. He gives examples of their conversations in public places; their dress and accessories; their behavior with their father and others. In a way, the two sisters seem to blend into one by the end of the story. Describe the two women: who are they? How are they similar? How are they different?

Essay Topic 3

Chapter 8 is a short chapter with only one hour of Phillip's story told. Yet, it is a powerful and pivotal chapter. What happens to the Carver family in this chapter? Why did the author chose to have only this one event in the chapter? Why is it so important to the story?

(see the answer keys)

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