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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 is Gram's announcement that pleases the children?

2. Where is Dicey's part-time job?

3. What does Dicey's new friend say that indicates a true friendship is possible?

4. What is the factor that increases the boredom Dicey endures in English class?

5. What happens that distracts and causes James to forget his promise about Maybeth?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the time in Provincetown appear to have impact upon James as the school year gets underway?

2. What does Dicey's surprise at being chosen as Mina's science class partner indicate about Dicey's frame of mind.

3. What does the reaction of Gram and Dicey to the suggestion of a tutor for Maybeth indicate?

4. What small initiative step does Dicey take soon after school starts that shows she still feels responsible for the four kids?

5. When Sammy insist upon helping work on the sailboat, why does Dicey get irritated?

6. Dicey relaxes in the yard a few days before school is to begin and thinks about the future. What thoughts are most troubling?

7. What does Sammy striving to be the perfect student ultimately lead to?

8. What does Dicey's decision about Maybeth's music lesson cost indicate?

9. How does the current condition of the sailboat and Dicey's plans for it align with the current situation of the kids?

10. What action does Gram take that signals maybe there is a chance for a stable future in Maryland?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author presents four kids from the same Tillerman lineage, yet two opposite personality types. Cite several instances that contrast the more reserved acceptance seeking personalities of James and Maybeth versus the combative assertive personalities of Dicey and Sammy.

Essay Topic 2

Setting and circumstances of Gram are central to the development of the kids progress as they settle in at the farm. Gram's isolation at the farm and minimalist life style are two factors. Provide a typical day to day description of Gram's week at the farm at a point several months before the kids appear on the scene.

Essay Topic 3

Gram passes along a number of ideas to Dicey about coping with life. Describe three instances where the character Mr. Lingerle is used by the author to demonstrate Gram's advice in action.

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