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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 does Little Tree create a disturbance in church?

2. How does Little Tree's education and instincts about nature get him into trouble at the orphanage?

3. What change does Little Tree make that demonstrates how much he has learned from the loss of the money spent on the calf?

4. What dangerous adventure gives Chapter 12 its title?

5. How do religious and cultural beliefs cause Little Tree and the sharecropper's daughter to act negatively towards each other?

Short Essay Questions

1. Write a short character sketch of Mr. Wine and summarize his role in the story.

2. What examples of prejudice and misunderstanding does Little Tree encounter at the orphanage?

3. In what two ways do Granpa and Granma help to create a sense of worth in Little Tree during Chapter 15?

4. How and why does Granpa's approach to people in church who are badly off differ from the approach of others?

5. How does Little Tree's love of nature help him through the misery he feels at the orphanage?

6. What purpose does Willow John serve in the novel?

7. During an incident in Chapter 13, poor people on the farm in the clearing are harassed and killed by government authorities. What part does this incident play in the novel?

8. What are the early symbols in Chapter 20 of Little Tree's excitement that he is home from the orphanage?

9. In what ways does the author communicate to the reader the growing fear and grief experienced by Granpa, Granma and Little Tree at the prospect of their separation?

10. How does the description of the incident with Mr. Slick and Mr. Chunk demonstrate the author's ability to use humor?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Comment on the importance in a novel of the point-of-view chosen by the writer and discuss with reference to this novel, the strengths and limitations of the "first -person narrative" point-of-view.

Essay Topic 2

Forrest Carter makes significant use of symbolism in the novel. Using specific examples of different types of symbols, write a detailed analysis of the author's use of symbolism throughout the novel. Where is it seen? How effectively is it used?

Essay Topic 3

In the introduction to the re-issuing of "The Education of Little Tree", the University of New Mexico Press includes the following statement: 'Little Tree is one of those rare books like Huck Finn that each new generation needs to discover and which needs to be read and reread regularly...a fine and sustaining book, wonderfully funny and deeply poignant'.

With special reference to this statement and using detailed references to the text, write a critical analysis of the novel.

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