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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 traits does Janisse say are the two most elemental features of Frank's personality when she describes him in Chapter 7, Junkyard?

2. For how many years does Janisse say her family had been in Appling County, Georgia?

3. What did Frank use to beat Janisse and her brothers after they stood by while a neighbor boy killed a snapping turtle?

4. Though Frank did not graduate from high school, Janisse cited two other forms of education that Frank sought out and received. What were those two sources of education?

5. What type of business did Janisse's grandfather Charlie run with his wife Clyo until he got into a fistfight that destroyed the structure?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the author's purpose in relating the fact that her parents told their children false stories about their births?

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

3. Janisse said there was only one type of occasion that did not elicit shame from her role as a junkyard owner's daughter. What is the only thing that occurs that does not bring her shame?

4. 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?

5. 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?

6. How does Janisse describe her feelings toward her father when he was mentally unwell?

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

8. 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?

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. Why were the conditions so favorable for Frank's junkyard business to make money?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Examine the appendices included at the end of the memoir. Why does the author include them and what message is the author sending to the reader by encouraging their use?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the irony within the scene in which Janisse brings home a botanist from college and he is so shocked by the state of the family's home and property that he locks himself in the bedroom, only coming out for meals. How does his disgust regarding Janisse's family home reflect what Janisse perceives to be the pervading reaction of the outside world when looking at people from her part of the country? And how does Janisse's father Frank's job as a salvage yard owner contrast with the botanist's view of the disarray he views as defining the family's situation?

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