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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. What are used to cover up the human scent in order to confuse these animals?

2. Christmas time has arrived, and Miss Butler is having the kids make hot pads from what?

3. When do Mary Alice and Royce meet?

4. The next day, Grandma negotiates a good deal for the hides with whom?

5. The heart of the program is what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is this man in town? What does Grandma think of this?

2. What does Bootsie bring back to Mary Alice? Why might he do this?

3. How does Grandma initially respond to Mrs. Weidenbach's request? Why?

4. What is the most important part of the Christmas program? Why is it surprising that Mary Alice is chosen to play an important role in this? Why might she have been chosen?

5. How is Carleen Lovejoy like Mildred Burdick?

6. What is learned about Mrs. Weidenbach? How is this significant?

7. How does Mrs. Weidenbach act when Grandma agrees to bake the tarts, if the meeting is held at Grandma's home? Why does she react this way?

8. What is the final surprise in this chapter? Are you surprised by this? Why or why not?

9. What does Grandma do to pay the bills and survive during the Great Depression? How is this foreshadowed?

10. What is one way that Grandma surprises Mary Alice during this holiday season? How is this important?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mary Alice is the main character.

Part 1) Describe Mary Alice. How does she change throughout the story? Why does she change? How do other characters in this story also change? What is Mary Alice's relationship with other main characters in the story?

Part 2) Mary Alice is also the narrator of the story. How does her narration affect the knowledge of the reader? How does it also influence the reader's opinion of other characters? How different might the story be if the narrator were not a character in the story? How different might the story be if Grandma was the narrator?

Part 3) What is learned about Middle America during the Great Depression through Mary Alice's eyes? Has this affected your view of life in the 1930s? If so, how? If not, why not?

Essay Topic 2

A "dangerous man" arrives in town.

Part 1) Who is this man? Describe him and the reason he is in town. Why might people of this town consider him dangerous? How do these fears affect the way they treat him? How does Grandma take advantage of this? Why does she do this?

Part 2) Describe the event that leads the citizens of this town to like him even less? Is he to blame for this surprising and shocking incident? Why or why not? Why does the town see him as guilty?

Part 3) How does Grandma help to turn the town's opinion around regarding this man? Why does she want to help him? What does this turn-around reinforce about this town?

Essay Topic 3

Grandma lives in a small hick town.

Part 1) Describe this small town and its inhabitants. Why does Mary Alice think she will not like this town? In the end, does Mary Alice end up liking the town? Why or why not?

Part 2) What does this town reveal about Americans throughout the country during the 1930s? What aspects of this town are universal and could represent many towns throughout the U.S.?

Part 3) How does this town compare to your own? How have Americans changed since the 1930s? How have they stayed the same? What are possible causes of these similarities and differences?

(see the answer keys)

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