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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. How often does Janisse say thunderstorms happened in the summer in their area of Georgia?

2. What is one place that Janisse's parents do NOT list as a place where one of their children was found?

3. Janisse references a line of literature that may be the original source of the term 'Cracker': Who wrote the line, "What cracker is this same that deafes our eares with this abundance of superfluous breath?"

4. What game of pretend did Janisse and her brothers play inside the old school bus?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. On page 79, Janisse includes the text of a letter her father Frank wrote to her. In the letter, Frank wrote that he was thankful for his mental illness and that it had taught him seven lessons. What were three of those lessons he said mental illness had taught him?

2. Due to their parents' religious beliefs and their resulting family rules, what were some of the practices forbidden to Janisse and her siblings?

3. Why did Janisse look forward so much to the days when Frank shopped at Winn-Dixie?

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

5. Why do people call certain parts of the wood of the longleaf pine "fat-lightered"?

6. 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?

7. How does Janisse Ray use her great-grandfather Pun's career progression to show how white-collar jobs can be even more damaging to the environment than can blue-collar jobs?

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

9. 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)?

10. How does the Thingfinders Club play into the memoir's message regarding ecology?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Despite the dire situations discussed within Janisse Ray's narrative, the theme of hope emerges again and again. Find instances of this theme's appearance throughout the memoir and explain how each instance is used by the author in order to demonstrate the value of hope when trying to solve environmental and social problems.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of fear within the memoir. What is the author telling the reader about the nature of fear, about the harm that fear can inflict, and about the methods people can use to combat it?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's purpose for describing her love for the carnivorous pitcher plant in such great detail within the chapter entitled How the Heart Opens. What lessons does she learn from the plant, how does she apply these lessons within her life, and how does she use the depiction of her relationship with the pitcher plant to support the overall themes of the memoir?

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