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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 much does the Tronder woman charge Per Hansa for borrowing her bull for a year?

2. What is the name of Tonseten's wife?

3. What is the first crop that Per Hansa wants to plant on his land?

4. What does Beret trip over as she leaves the house after a fight with Per Hansa, at the end of Book 1, Chapter 4?

5. How many men are in the first group of Norwegian settlers that come to Spring Creek?

Short Essay Questions

1. What type of business does Per Hansa conduct regarding the furs from the Indians?

2. Why does Per Hansa go to the Indian camp in Book 1, Chapter 3? What does he discover once he gets there?

3. What is the minister's response to Per after he tells the minister his concerns about Beret?

4. What do the settlers do to try to help Hans Olsa when he is on his death bed?

5. Describe what happens to Per Hansa when he decides to go on a trip with the men using his oxen and gets lost in a blizzard.

6. Who goes to look for the cattle? What happens when this character returns?

7. What is Beret's demeanor after she gives birth to Peder Seier?

8. Why is Per Hansa left behind when the other men travel to town? How does he react to this?

9. What is the Hansa family doing as the novel opens? Why?

10. What are the effects of the winter of 1880-1881 on the settlement at Spring Creek?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of the settlers experience a fear of something so the theme of fear is a prevalent theme in the novel. Discuss the theme of fear. How is it present in the novel? What characters exhibit fear? What are the various fears that are expressed by the members of the settlement? How does the fear of the settlers affect them in the novel? Provide examples from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Giants in the Earth is full of lush description and vivid imagery. Discuss this imagery, using several examples from the book. Where and how does the author use devices such as personification, simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, etc.? How do they add to the novel? What impact do they have on the reader?

Essay Topic 3

In a new found community, there are going to be good things that happen within the community and negative things as well. Discuss the positive or successful elements in the settlement on Spring Creek as well as the negative or unfortunate moments. How do they define the characters involved or the settlement itself? Provide examples.

(see the answer keys)

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