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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. Where did the people think the unaccounted for chickens in "Chicken-Talk" had gone?

2. What did Washington give Carver after the big debate in "The New Rooster"?

3. In "Last Talks with Jim Hardwick," what did Carver call nature?

4. Who did Carver see in "A Patriarch's Blessing"?

5. When did Booker T. Washington die?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did most white nurses do in "Friends in the Klan"?

2. What came of the experiments in "The Penol Cures"?

3. What was "Moton Field" about?

4. Why did Carver write to Mrs. Hardwick?

5. What caused a student to doubt God in "Goliath"?

6. In "My Beloved Friend," what did Carver praise Hardwick for?

7. What did Carver tell Hardwick he thought would happen to him when he died?

8. In "My Dear Spiritual Boy," how did Carver meet the person it talked about?

9. How and when did Carver learn about Moses's death?

10. What did Moses say to Carver in "A Patriarch's Blessing"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Symbolism is a very prevalent literary device used by Marilyn Nelson. What were some of these symbols, and how did their presence affect the course of the plot?

Essay Topic 2

Despair was an emotion that affected a number of the people in this book. Which characters were most affected by despair, and how did this change the course of the plot branches they were involved in?

Essay Topic 3

How did the author use poems to present this life story, and what are some of the good and bad sides to this unique form of narrative?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 680 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample