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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. What is the name of the young girl the Judge wrote to in letters?

2. What is Riley's last name?

3. What is Riley hunting in the woods in Chapter 2?

4. Where had the Judge's wife been from?

5. Who is the younger sister with whom the narrator goes to stay?

Short Essay Questions

1. What events lead up to the departure of Dolly, Catherine, and Collin for the tree house?

2. What happens at the end of Chapter 2?

3. What positions do the sisters whom the narrator lives with have in the town/home? Whom does the narrator gravitate toward of the two?

4. What causes Verena's interest in the dropsy cure?

5. What is Catherine's take on love in Chapter 3? How does her comment change the conversation?

6. What does the tree house gang do while the buzz is going on in the town in Chapter 2?

7. Describe the differences between Dolly and Verena's mannerisms and bedrooms.

8. Who tells the narrator about the grass harp? What is it?

9. What is the story behind Riley's parents?

10. What does Dolly declare about love in Chapter 3?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the representation of organized religion in the novel. How are Sister Ida and Minister Buster used as symbols to reflect a viewpoint on religion? What Biblical allusions are evident in the text?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the plot line of The Grass Harp. Define the terms Rising Action, Climax, and Falling Action and give examples of these from the text. How does the structure of the novel serve to create tension?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the different conflicts that occur in the novel. What is the overriding conflict that drives the action? What are internal conflicts within the characters? How does conflict define dramatic literature?

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