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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. Who disciplines Ruth with a wooden spoon?

2. What does Imogene give Ruth when Ruth's tooth is pulled?

3. What does Amanda do when Ruth shows dislike for her father?

4. As a child, what does Ruth believe her mother to be?

5. Who does not object when Amanda returns to her work at the hospital, accepting the worst assignments?

Short Essay Questions

1. What occurs when Clement prepares to go to Washington?

2. How do Ruth and Imogene become friends?

3. Compare Ruth's popularity at school to Imogene's.

4. Why does Amanda go to live with Mathilda?

5. Discuss Ruth's thoughts of her mother while at the island with her friends?

6. Discuss the adjustment for Amanda, Carl, and Ruth to become a family.

7. What does Amanda recall about little Ruth in Part 2, Chapter 10?

8. How do Amanda and Clement meet?

9. How do Amanda, Mathilda, and Rudy end up on the island?

10. What happens on March 27, 1919?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The narration of the novel switches between that of Ruth, Amanda, and Carl. Discuss the positive and negative effects of the changes in narration in the novel.

Essay Topic 2

There are many flashbacks throughout the novel involving the drowning of Mathilda. Discuss the role that flashbacks have on the story and how they are used.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the relationship between Arthur and Imogene with that of Arthur and Ruth.

(see the answer keys)

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