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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 state was Cross Creek located in?

2. Aside from her dress, what was the only belonging Geechee brought with her when she moved in with Rawlings?

3. Which of the following adjectives did Rawlings use to describe her plumbing system in Cross Creek?

4. Which of the following parasites were the Towensend children suffering from?

5. How many white families lived in Rawlings's neighborhood in Cross Creek?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Geechee and Rawlings meet?

2. How did Rawlings's uncle help her with her outhouse?

3. What types of physical maladies were the Slaters suffering from, and why weren't there maladies being treated?

4. What type of relationship did George Fairbanks have with women?

5. Who was Tim, and why did he leave Rawlings's property?

6. After she left Rawlings's home for the first time, what type of working relationship did Geechee have with the farm?

7. How did Rawlings come to shoot a pig in her garden?

8. How did Rawlings become involved in the Townsend children's education?

9. What health problem were the Townsend children suffering from when Mary arrived at their pound party?

10. What parts of Cross Creek added to its beauty, as Rawlings recollected it in the opening chapter of the memoir?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the opening of the memoir, Rawlings is quick to point out all her personal flaws to the reader, particularly in regard to her skills at Cross Creek. First, explain how Rawlings came to live on Cross Creek. Was she prepared for this move to the farmland? How did Rawlings's personal history lead her to list all her personal flaws. In the end, do you think these personal flaws helped or hindered Rawlings during the time she lived on Cross Creek?

Essay Topic 2

The people of Cross Creek were often plagued with poverty although Rawlings rarely states this blatantly. Choose one family from Cross Creek and describe their poverty. How did the family come to be so poor? How did they deal with their poverty? In what ways did Rawlings succeed in showing the poverty of Cross Creek without having to state it directly? How did living among the poor in Cross Creek affect Rawlings's own relationship with money?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the course of the memoir, Rawlings both hires servants. How does Rawlings' describe "wage-slavery"? how does this compare to other hired servants? Describe Rawlings's personal beliefs concerning the effects white people have on the lives on the black servants they hire. What role did Rawlings believe she had on the lives of her servants. Do you agree with her beliefs?

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