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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 often does the post-cart come to Long Kloof?

2. In Chapter 2, how far do the mountains stretch from west to east?

3. When the wind comes from what direction does the aloe not yield sap?

4. Who taught Fiela to read and write?

5. By the fourth day that Lukas is missing, how many men are searching?

Short Essay Questions

1. What possible news of Lukas is there at the end of Chapter 1?

2. What does Fiela decide to do on Monday in Chapter 10?

3. What questions does the magistrate ask Benjamin in Chapter 9?

4. Who is Benjamin, and where does he and his family live?

5. Why does Elias work less than he used to in Chapter 5?

6. What was Selling's sentence when he was convicted of murder, and how did he get free?

7. Why was Selling convicted of murder when Fiela was pregnant with Emma?

8. What does Elias van Rooyen do for a living, and how does his work compare to the work other families on Barnard's Island do?

9. In Chapter 10, what does Benjamin see and feel when he gets to Barnard's Island?

10. How did Fiela get a male ostrich?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Benjamin is raised by Fiela. Why is Benjamin raised by Fiela? What is revealed about mother/child relationship through the relationship she has with Benjamin?

Essay Topic 2

Strangers often treat people from the forest as inconsequential and uneducated. Who is a man that Malie remembers camping near her home? What did the man denigrate her family for doing? Was the man a hypocrite for denigrating Malie’s family?

Essay Topic 3

In the novel, some characters are more thoroughly described than others. Who are some characters that are merely named in passing or have a minor role in the novel? What is the importance of these flat characters to the story line? In what way do these characters make the main characters more colorful or interesting? When there is conflict, what type of role do these flat characters play?

(see the answer keys)

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