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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 bad habit does Dora have?

2. What food item does Ellen take with her on her pony ride?

3. What name does the well-to-do relative call Ellen's father?

4. What on Ellen's arm draws attention from her teachers?

5. Which character gives Ellen the outfit to wear to the funeral?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. How is Ellen's obsessive side shown in Chapter 6?

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

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

5. How does the author create a reversal of the mother-daughter role in the novel?

6. The author never indicates the time period of when the events in Ellen's life are taking place. How can one tell from the context about clues that Ellen's story happens in fairly modern times?

7. Why does Ellen feel that her relatives are phonies?

8. Why does Ellen have conflicting views about Starletta's family?

9. In Chapter 6, how does Ellen's prejudiced nature show up?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Using the details from the text and class discussions, discuss the ways that Ellen trusted and distrusted the people in her weak support system.

Essay Topic 2

List and discuss several ways that Ellen's character evolved throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 3

In several instances in the text, Ellen tries to control the small things around her. Why does Ellen need to control these things?

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