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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. __________ was always patient and good humored, always moving slowly forward.

2. What is the plant Ginny decides to use in order to help poison Rose so that she can finally escape the farm?

3. Caroline believes that she and ____________ became close and that they only separated when she was cut out of the farm for a time.

4. Who covered for Caroline when Caroline was 14 and wanted to do something that Larry would have disapproved of?

5. Larry told Ginny when she was that age that she was ____________, repeatedly telling her this, event though she was just a toddler.

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do Ginny and Caroline go about dividing possessions in the cold as it is late November?

2. What does Ty discover in the old dairy barn he's converting for the hog operation?

3. What does Ginny do in order to attempt to poison her sister, Rose?

4. What happens when Pete gets drunk in Mason City and drives over to threaten Harold?

5. What does Marv Carlson tell Ginny and Caroline they can do before the farm sale starts?

6. What is the status of Harold's eyes after his accident with the ammonia?

7. How is it shown that Ty is the better farmer of all of his neighbors and their farms?

8. What does Rose let Ginny know in a short note she receives while Ginny is in her new place?

9. Why has Henry Dodge, the Lutheran minister, come to call on Ginny, even though she did not ask him to come?

10. What does Ginny do after asking Ty for $1000 and receiving that money from him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One might say that parts of the story were simply out of the hands of the characters. For example, the role of disease and illness seem to be out of the hands of the characters, though the actions of Larry seem to be within his control.

Part 1: Do you think that that characters had more opportunities to change their lives? Why or why not?

Part 2: Why didn't some of the characters try to change their lives and redirect their experiences?

Part 3: Do you think the book supports the idea of nature being in control of our lives or of free will being in charge? Why did you choose the answer you did?

Essay Topic 2

Ginny finally escapes the farm and the country, leaving without explanation and without any plan for her future.

Part 1: Why do you think Ginny decided to leave when she did?

Part 2: Why do you think Ginny decided to leave without telling anyone she was going?

Part 3: What do Ginny's actions surrounding leaving say about her and about her emotional state at the time of her departure?

Essay Topic 3

Larry is a character that the reader hates from the start, and yet, one cannot help but also feel some pity for him and for his situation.

Part 1: Do you think Larry is an inherently bad person? Why or why not?

Part 2: Had the girls' Mom not died, do you think Larry would have been a different person? Why or why not?

Part 3: Do you think Larry realizes just how awful he has been to his children? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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