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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 did Frank's children begin to watch for as a sign that he was entering a manic phase of his mental illness?

2. What was the subject of Janisse's recurring daydream she had during church services?

3. When Charlie somehow got out of the mental institution to which Clyo had him committed, how did she persuade him to leave the family home again?

4. Janisse uses a quote from which novel to begin Chapter 3, Shame?

5. In what county in Georgia was Janisse raised?

Short Essay Questions

1. What descriptions of her homeland does Janisse give in order to support her claim that her "homeland is about as ugly as a place gets" (13)?

2. What is the effect on the reader when in the chapter entitled Junkyard, Janisse writes, "I was six the year mental illness stole my father," (77) and how does the author create that effect?

3. Whose idea was it to spread old shoes around underneath the grapevine and what was the intended purpose of that act?

4. What are some ways in which Janisse shows her parents that she is a tomboy who likes to be outside in nature more than she enjoys any other activities?

5. How is foreshadowing used within Janisse's relation of how she used to love to play teacher with her brothers or even with her dolls?

6. Besides the fact that he thought it had better prices than other stores, why did Frank shop at Winn-Dixie?

7. How does the passage regarding the bank robber Foster Sellers exhibit the theme of identity prevalent throughout the memoir?

8. After explaining that "Ninety-eight percent of the presettlement longleaf pine barrents in the southeastern coastal plains were lost by 1986" (16), Janisse writes that she did not know about this loss as a child. However, she states, "But it is a loss that as an adult shadows every step I take" (16). What does she mean?

9. What elements did Frank consider crucial to the business of buying?

10. What happened during one of the Ray family's only vacations that highlighted the fact that they were a subject of fascination for others?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance of Janisse Ray's story in the chapter entitled Leaving about the first time she saw the word environmentalism in action? What lessons did she learn that day--about herself and about the world? And what lessons does she hope to teach the reader while relaying her account of this event?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the chapter entitled Built By Fire, discussing at least three different literary devices the author uses within the chapter and stating the main message the author is sending to the reader within the chapter.

Essay Topic 3

What is the significance of scene in which Janisse's grandfather Charlie leads Janisse to his secret copse of huckleberries? How does the author use this event as a metaphor for a particular piece of her worldview and what message does she send to the reader through her relaying of this event?

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