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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 did Smarsh's mother say about paying retail?

2. Which American president was a native of rural Kansas?

3. What is Smarsh's nickname as a child?

4. Where did many of Smarsh's uncles, aunts and cousins work in Wichita?

5. Who was Smarsh's paternal grandmother?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Smarsh define her family's poverty in Part I?

2. Why does Smarsh love going to church as a child?

3. How do Smarsh's parents, Jeannie and Nick, meet?

4. In Part I, what is one main reason Betty says yes when Arnie asks her to dance the first time they meet?

5. In Part I, what happens shortly after the birth of Smarsh's brother that upsets and weights on Jeannie?

6. What skill did Jeannie and Nick both have in common?

7. In Part I, what happens with Jeannie that Betty takes to heart because she thinks it symbolizes her failures as a mother?

8. In Part I, what do Smarsh's parents do around the Fourth of July to make a significant amount of money?

9. What are Smarsh's memories of her father Nick like from childhood?

10. What birthday does Smarsh's father have that Smarsh feels is a sort of poetic for him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What kinds of influences did Smarsh's various teachers have on her life while she was growing up, in both positive and negative ways? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What is the connection, for Smarsh, between her own ambition and the academic world? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text to help support your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

What do tornadoes, the most violent and common storm on the Kansas plains, symbolize for Smarsh? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text to help support your opinions.

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This section contains 700 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample