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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. In response, Grandma plays matchmaker and hosts a dinner with Arnold Green and who?

2. It turns out Grandma had been setting _______ traps earlier that day.

3. Mrs. Weidenbach is ready to__________ at these horrible new revelations.

4. This man explains he was sent to Grandma by Maxine Patch, the postmistress, and that he is in town to do what?

5. Why does the chorus practice sound awful?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Mrs. Weidenbach ask for Grandma's help? Why is this surprising?

2. What is another way that Grandma surprises Mary Alice during this holiday season? How is this surprise important?

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

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

5. How do the townspeople treat Arnold after this shocking event? Why?

6. How do the girls react when a new boy enrolls in school? How does Mary Alice act? Why might she act this way?

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

8. How is Mary Alice's date interrupted? How is this foreshadowed?

9. Why might the townspeople act this way toward this strange man?

10. How is Carleen Lovejoy like Mildred Burdick?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The first section begins a pattern that repeats throughout the rest of the book.

Part 1) What is this pattern? How is this pattern significant? What theme does this pattern support? What characters does this pattern and theme affect? How are they affected?

Part 2) How is this pattern and theme relevant to your own life? How can you relate to the characters in this book through this theme?

Part 3) What is another book you have read or story you have heard that has this same theme? Is this a universal theme? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

"A Dangerous Man" touches upon the stereotype of spring.

Part 1) What is the stereotype of spring? How is this touched upon in this chapter? How does this stereotype affect the characters in this book?

Part 2) What is the author's purpose for focusing on this stereotype? How is this stereotype tied to other events and/or themes in this book?

Part 3) What is another story that focuses on this stereotype? What is the reason for this? What are the similarities between this story and "A Year Down Yonder"?

(see the answer keys)

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