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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 did Margaret mean when she told Sam and Mark that Rick is "travelin'"?

2. How does Rick describe the area in which his parents were born and raised?

3. Why were Margaret's sisters better off in life than she was?

4. How did Charles feel about going to Korea to kill soldiers?

5. What happened to the letters Margaret received from Charles while he was in Korea?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Rick experience at the Protestant Church that he attended when he is young?

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

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

4. What story did Rick tell about his cowboy boots?

5. What was the main reason for Rick writing this memoir?

6. What kind of a father did Rick have?

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

8. What male influence did Rick and his brother's have in their lives?

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

10. What did the poor black boy bring to Rick's family, and what does Rick think about it now that he is an older man?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is a widow's mite, and why does Rick Bragg use it as a title for the first section of the book?

Essay Topic 2

Compare Rick and his brothers to an average American household. How were the boys the same as others? How were they different? Mention not only material items but how they thought about themselves and how others thought about them.

Essay Topic 3

Choose three of the following chapter titles and explain their significance to the whole book.

1. Under Vulcan's Hammer

2. The Price Tag on Heaven

3. Snow In a Can

4. The Same

5. If You Got to Kill Somebody, Better It Be Family.

6. Perfume on a Hog.

(see the answer keys)

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