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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. Why does Tom frown at Mrs. Fletcher in church?

2. Why is Willie afraid of the bath?

3. How does Willie feel about his first day of school?

4. What does Mrs. Beech mean when she writes that she had "sewn him in for the winter"?

5. What upsets Carrie about George?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Willie become humiliated at school on the first day? What do the children do to make him feel better?

2. What do Willie and Rachel have in common, and how does it affect Tom in the "Birthday" chapter?

3. How does Willie begin to fit in with the children and what affect does this have on him?

4. Why are George's sisters upset with George on the day of the picnic, and what does this say about the way that they think?

5. Throughout Chapter 5, how does Tom show his care for Willie?

6. What becomes evident about Willie's education as Chapter 2 progresses?

7. How do the townspeople react to Tom's attendance at the meeting and why?

8. What might be foreshadowed by Tom dusting off the paints at the end of Chapter 2?

9. How does Tom feel about the war? What does he say and do that indicate those feelings?

10. What are Sundays like for Willie at home with his mother? How do those Sundays differ from the Sundays he has with Tom?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the relationship of Willie and Sammie from the time that they meet until the end of the story. How is Sammie therapy for Willie?

Essay Topic 2

Why do the children love Mrs. Hartridge and how does she affect Willie's life?

Essay Topic 3

How is Mrs. Beech hypocritical and what does this say about the ideas that she taught her son? What did she teach her son specifically? When and how does the reader learn about what Mrs. Beech has taught Willie?

(see the answer keys)

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