View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who does Ellen blame for her mother's death?
(a) Herself.
(b) Her father.
(c) Her aunt.
(d) Her grandmother.

2. Why does Ellen feel that her mother is better off in the hospital than at home?
(a) At the hospital she is cared for.
(b) At the hospital she can hide.
(c) At the hospital her husband visits her.
(d) At the hospital her family loves her.

3. What luxuries does Ellen have in her new life that did not exist in her old life?
(a) Food, clothes and friends.
(b) Food, books and television.
(c) Books, parents and horses.
(d) Horses, parents and clothes.

4. When Ellen returns to school after the funeral, what does one teacher bluntly ask her?
(a) Where her father was.
(b) How her mother died.
(c) Why was she wearing so many clothes.
(d) Where had she been.

5. How does Ellen's father die?
(a) Suicide.
(b) Alcoholism.
(c) Natural Causes.
(d) Murder.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Ellen's friend's family sometimes eat?

2. How long does Ellen's new roommate let her stay when Ellen runs away from her father's home?

3. What is the weather like at the funeral service?

4. How does Ellen refer to her large head?

5. What entertainment activity does Ellen's father entertain his guests with on New Year's Eve?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Ellen choose Starletta's parents when asked by the school board if Ellen has someone to take care of her?

2. In what ways has Ellen's mother's family shown that they do not care if Ellen is being neglected?

3. How is the pony's name, Dolphin, a symbol of freedom to Ellen?

4. How does the fact that Ellen is concerned with snakes in her new life hint at how she feels about the members of her family?

5. In what ways does Ellen justify not telling anyone about the circumstances of her mother's death?

6. Why does Ellen have to make sure that she retrieves the envelope of money from the mailbox before her father can get to it?

7. How can a reader tell that Ellen may harbor some prejudices toward African American people?

8. In Chapter 2, how does Ellen hint at favoritism towards her mother's family?

9. How is Ellen's grandmother's removal of Ellen's mother's clothes symbolic to the story?

10. Up to Chapter 7, what are some of the ways Ellen covers up for her father?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 663 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample