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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 the Hansas' rifle?

3. What is it that the settlers are particularly afraid of?

4. What is Per Hansa's purpose for buying the twine and knitting a net?

5. Who gets into a physical fight with one of the men from the large caravan?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why don't the neighbors want to visit the Hansa house?

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

3. Why does Beret agree with Per Hansa's plans for the house? Does she explain this reasoning to her husband? Why or why not?

4. What is Beret Hansa's emotional/mental state in Book 1, Chapter 1 of the novel? Why?

5. How does Beret change in the last chapter of the book?

6. What do the settlers discuss changing their names to? What name does Per refuse and what name does he decide would be a good name for his family?

7. What happens to the rest of the party that the Hansa family was traveling with?

8. Describe the arrival of the minister and his physical appearance.

9. Describe the weather in Book 1, Chapter 6. How does Beret feel about the whitewashing? What does it have to do with the weather?

10. In Book 1, Chapter 4, Per Hansa is surveying his property and finds wooden stakes in the ground. Where does Per find the stakes, what do they mean, and how does he react to this discovery?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Beret Hansa goes through many ups and downs and her emotional struggle is up front for the reader to experience all through the novel. Discuss Beret's emotional state. How does it change? What prompts her depression? How do her emotion stir her actions? How does her emotional state affect the other members of the community? Where is she emotionally by the end of the novel? Provide examples from the book.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

The theme or struggle of man versus himself is present in the novel, specifically through Per Hansa, but it can also be seen in other characters. Discuss this struggle within the novel. How is it present? How does it affect the character involved in the struggle and the other characters in the family or settlement? Provide examples.

(see the answer keys)

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