View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Phillip feel about his father before the man dies the following spring?

2. With whom does Mrs. Carver spend much of her time on the Saturday outings?

3. What did the two families often do together on Saturdays?

4. What news does Mr. Carver have for Phillip?

5. How do Mr. Carver and Mr. Shackleford greet each other in the restaurant?

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

3. 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?

4. 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?

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

6. In Chapter 9, Phillip explains the difference between his father and Alex Mercer as an important factor in their friendship. What is this difference?

7. 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?

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

9. 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?

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

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

The novel is set in Tennessee, a southern state. Could the author have set the novel in another location, the West or the East coast, or is this a uniquely Southern novel? Would the novel work if it were set in New York City?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,229 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample