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. What was acceptable practice and what was not in the foothills?

2. Who went to Charles's funeral?

3. What instrument did Rick's grandmother play?

4. What did Rick's father teach him that helped him get to his job as a reporter even though many saw him as a loser?

5. How did Charles kill the assassin in Korea?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Rick say that anyone could write this book? Is that true?

2. What were the times like when Rick grew up? Where was he born? When?

3. What did Rick come to realize at the Fraternity Christmas Party, and how did he feel about it?

4. What did the Bragg men talk about on the front porch over whiskey after dinner?

5. What kind of a woman was Rick's grandmother?

6. When did Rick choose to write this memoir and why?

7. What was Margaret's family like growing up?

8. What was the Korean War story that Charles told to Rick?

9. What were some of the stories that Rick would tell in the book that he had covered as a reporter?

10. What kind of an extended family does Rick have?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Growing up, what was Rick taught to believe about black people? What did he learn as a child for himself about them? What happened with the experience after the black boy brought Rick's family food?

Essay Topic 2

What are Rick's views about religion? Where do they come from? How do they affect him emotionally? What does he understand that he is missing?

Essay Topic 3

What drew Rick to spend his life writing stories about human tragedy? Did writing these types of stories resolve his inner issues? What did he learn about life from these stories?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 857 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample