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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 is the narrator's voice best described?

2. By which of the following items do Sissie's brothers wait?

3. Which of the following is a quality of the narration in the book?

4. Who wishes that their father were dead?

5. What is the outcome of Sissie's parents bickering at the tavern in the first summer?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Sissie afraid of in Part 1?

2. What makes Sissie vulnerable?

3. What message about marriage does Sissie pass on?

4. Is Sissie comfortable being around her father in Part 2? Why or why not?

5. Choose one literary device used in Part 2 and explain how it is used.

6. Why does Sissie feel that she is a burden in Part 3? How does this make her feel?

7. What does Sissie regret in her past?

8. What is one specific example from Part 2 of the novel's setting being a rural one?

9. Why does Sissie say that her father looks like a stranger?

10. Why does Sissie feel uneasy in the boat with her father?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do social issues play a role in "Four Summers"? Consider the hierarchy of women. Also, consider the roles of class and race.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the use of foreshadowing in the text. Point out two specific pieces of foreshadowing from the story and explain what the foreshadowing represents for the reader.

Essay Topic 3

What is the central conflict in "Four Summers"? Is the conflict in the story physical or emotional? How does the reader know this?

(see the answer keys)

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