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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 does Janey plan to trade for the doctor's services?

2. Who does Lupe tell Janey is the new teacher at the Regular School?

3. Why does Dad stay home from work in Chapter 8?

4. Why are the houses and the school crammed so close together?

5. What month is it when Janey's Mom gets very sick?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who intrudes on Janey's contentment as she sits watching the ducks?

2. How do the Larkins spend the money won in the cotton picking contest?

3. What is Dad's description of bravery and why does Janey now have a better appreciation for the bravery exhibited by her parents?

4. Why does Dad enter into a fight with Bounce that could land Dad in jail?

5. What does the eucalyptus tree job mean for the Larkin family?

6. Why does the Camp School come to a close?

7. Why does Janey have so much anxiety about the cotton picking contest?

8. What is Janey's reasoning for gauging the teacher by how the teacher reacts to the horned toad?

9. How is the family relieved as Mom's condition continues to improve?

10. What offer does Mr. Anderson make to Mr. Larkin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the greatest lesson Janey learns from her mother? Is it true that important lessons are also painful ones? What will Janey always recall about her mother from their experiences in California during the Great Depression?

Essay Topic 2

The author uses more than one iteration on the theme of struggle. Identify at least two instances about struggle in the book and then cite examples to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

BLUE WILLOW is a classic coming of age story. What does that classification entail? Why does this story fit into this category? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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