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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. When tree farming became common practice in 1940, why was the longleaf pine rarely planted by tree farmers?

2. In what county in Georgia was Janisse raised?

3. When Janisse and her brothers used to play school, with Janisse often acting as the teacher, what did they use as a chalkboard?

4. In Chapter 4, Built by Fire, what two natural elements does Janisse pit against one another in her personification-laden story?

5. By what year had virtually all of the longleaf pines been felled, leaving only .001 percent of its former numbers?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

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

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

6. The second sentence of the chapter entitled Timber says, "About the same time, the production of naval stores in North Carolina began to wane and big turpentine producers in North Carolina sashayed into Georgia" 99). What is the effect of the author's choice of the verb "sashayed" and what is her purpose in making that choice?

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

8. 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?

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

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

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 2

In the chapter entitled Light, Janisse Ray uses white space to surround the words "Evolve. Adapt. Survive." What is her purpose for setting these words apart from the rest of the text and how do these words relate to the many themes displayed within her memoir?

Essay Topic 3

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.

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