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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 Charlie hope to accomplish by placing old shoes beneath plants?

2. On the outskirts of what town is the junkyard where Janisse spent her childhood?

3. What is NOT one of the dangers Janisse's father Frank mentions when warning the children about the treacherous junkyard?

4. Because Janisse was one of her grandfather Charlie's favorite grandchildren, what two skills did he teach her?

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

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 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?

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

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

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

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

7. 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?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Find instances of the author drawing parallels between the creatures of southern Georgia and the people who inhabit the region. How does each instance send its own message and how do they work in concert with one another to send a larger, cohesive message to the reader of the memoir?

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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