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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 does Grandfather suggest that Nathaniel Benson did at the market?

2. Why does the farmer throw Mattie and Grandfather off of the wagon?

3. What type of meeting is Eliza attending?

4. Why does Grandfather think that he is a fool?

5. How does Mattie reacting to leaving?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Mr. Stephen Girard?

2. How does Jeannine insult Mattie and her mother?

3. Why does Mrs. Bowles suggest to Mattie that she come work at the orphan house?

4. How does the author use foreshadowing to tell the reader that Colette may be ill?

5. How would you characterize Mattie's feelings toward Nathaniel Benson after reading Chapter 5?

6. Has Mattie's mother always been "a tired and bitter captain"?

7. What did Grandfather find when he returned home to the coffeehouse?

8. What does Grandfather want Mattie to do with the money he gives her?

9. What do Mattie and Grandfather learn at the newspaper office?

10. Where does the doctor suggest that the women and children should go?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mattie goes through several rites of passage in this novel. In your essay:

1) Describe at least two events that help usher her into adulthood.

2) Then discuss how these events help make her a "woman".

Be sure to cite several examples from the novel to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Mattie and her mother's relationship develops and their bond is strengthened through absence.

1) Describe their relationship at several points in the novel.

2) Explain how their relationship changes.

3) Analyze why this change happens. What causes it to happen?

Use evidence from the novel to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 3

At times throughout the novel Mattie and Eliza depend on one another. Look back through the novel and:

1) Describe how their relationship evolves.

2) Discuss the impact that their relationship has at each point in the novel.

Use specific examples from the text to support your ideas.

(see the answer keys)

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