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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. Why are trees rare on savannas?

2. What sign of distress did Janisse notice when looking at the painted tortoise?

3. The family's junkyard was bordered by a group of row houses that lacked two modern conveniences. What two elements did the houses lack?

4. For what practice does the gopher tortoise require open sunny spots within their habitats?

5. Though she did not speak to Charlie for 25 years after they split up, what did Clyo do that showed she still cared about him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was the first person to spark Janisse's interest in the natural world and how did that person spark her interest?

2. What types of things did Lee Ada collect to satisfy her love for pretty things?

3. What is the main characteristic present in indigo snakes that led to much of their endangered status, in addition to the fact that they use endangered gopher tortoises' burrows as shelter?

4. Beyond just the loss of their physical homes, what does Janisse mean when she writes that all of the animals who live among longleaf pines face "loss of place" (142) as a result of logging?

5. Why did Janisse choose to call her father Frank rather than the sheriff or the wildlife officer or someone else when she could not talk the fruit vendor into turning over the distressed tortoise he had just painted with gold and silver paint?

6. How did Lee Ada's father Arthur feel about Frank's and Lee Ada's decision to elope?

7. What are the characteristics of the red-cockaded woodpecker that lead to it being such a good example of the fauna losses caused by the loss of the longleaf pine?

8. How does Janisse draw parallels between the red-cockaded woodpecker and the Cracker people who inhabit her homeland?

9. How does the concept of determinism emerge in the final paragraph of the chapter entitled Poverty?

10. What were the two pieces of advice given to Frank by the doctor in the state mental hospital who had taken an interest in his case?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Explain the significance of the memoir's title. What does it mean and how does it contain all of the main themes put forth within the whole of the memoir?

Essay Topic 3

Explicate the scene of Janisse's session of night-rappelling down the cliff. How does she use her story of the event to support the larger themes within her memoir?

(see the answer keys)

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