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 happens to Veasey and Inman after they leave the farmer's home?

2. What kind of food does Inman find in the chapter Exile and Brute Wandering?

3. What does the blind man sell outside the hospital?

4. What happens as Inman slowly crosses the river?

5. Who is Waldo, mentioned in the chapter Ashes of Roses?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to Ruby when she was only four?

2. Why is Inman in a military hospital?

3. Who does Inman dream about after seeing a dark-haired girl riding a horse?

4. Why does Ada decide to sell her piano?

5. What scene do Ada and Ruby stumble on on their way back to Black Cove?

6. What surprises Ada about the circumstances of her conception and birth?

7. What did Inman find on the battlefield that he kept hidden throughout his medical ordeal?

8. What does Junior do when he finds Inman in his wife's arms?

9. Who joins Inman on his journey in the chapter, Exile and Brute Wandering?

10. What does Ruby instruct Ada to create?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Inman and Ada barely know one another before Inman goes to war, but Inman is deeply in love with Ada. Discuss how courtship was different in the time period in which this novel takes place. Would a modern woman have waited for a man like Inman return from war like Ada does? Would a modern woman fall in love with a man with such limited contact? Would a modern man imagine a lifetime with a woman he knew such a short time? Did the war affect the affection these two people felt for one another? In what way?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss slavery. What is slavery? Was the Civil War about slavery? In what way? How is slavery represented in this novel? What do the main characters think of slavery? Did any of them own slaves? How did slavery affect their lives? How did the war affect their lives? How do the two things compare as far as their impact on the characters?

Essay Topic 3

Why does Ruby dislike Stobrod? Does Ruby have good reason to dislike her father? What does Ruby blame her father for? Was Stobrod ever abusive toward Ruby? Did Stobrod neglect his daughter? If so, why? Why does Ruby refuse to allow Stobrod around? Is this a punishment of sort? How does Ruby feel when Stobrod is shot? Does this change Ruby's relationship with her father? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 776 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample