View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following might be considered Sissie's tragic flaw in the first summer?

2. Which of the following makes the setting in the second summer seem rural?

3. Who claims to hate their father?

4. Who has the idea to go to the island in the boat?

5. What does a man compliment Sissie's father about?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Sissie compare her father to other men?

2. What message about marriage does Sissie pass on?

3. In what way does Sissie compare herself to her mother? How does she think they are different?

4. In what ways does Jesse remind Sissie of her father?

5. According to Sissie, what would her father think about Jesse and why?

6. What sets Sissie apart from the other children in Part 1?

7. Why might it be difficult to write from Sissie's perspective?

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

9. How does Sissie compare herself to other girls her own age in Part 3?

10. How does the reader know that time has passed between Part 2 and Part 3?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What role does the idea of image versus reality play in the book? What does Sissie imagine the world to be? In truth, how does the world differ? How does this affect Sissie's life?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Sissie's development as a character. Describe her starting position in comparison to her ending position. How does she change physically? How do her emotions and beliefs change? Why?

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)

This section contains 768 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample