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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 local priest not like that her mother let Smarsh do?

2. What hit song did Smarsh like to sing along on the radio to that Jeannie did not like?

3. What did Smarsh's grandfather carve the year she was born?

4. What church did Nick and Jeannie marry in?

5. How many times had Betty been married by the time Arnie asked her to marry him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kinds of health epidemics does Smarsh say rural families often face today?

2. Why does Smarsh address her child that has never been conceived or born as "August?"

3. In Part II, how does Smarsh describe her great-grandfather, Aaron, drawing on others' memories?

4. What was Smarsh's relationship with her mother like when Smarsh was a young child?

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

6. In Part II, what does Betty become so ill with?

7. In Part I, what is the one fact of Smarsh's family history she thinks most significantly shaped her relationship to August?

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

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

In Chapter 5, on page 200, Smarsh's father Nick tells her a parable about a hard-working carpenter who intentionally does a shoddy job on a house for the first time in his life, only to have his supervisor hand him the keys to the house as a reward for his years of hard work. Write an essay exploring the meaning of this story as it relates specifically to Smarsh's family's situation and outlook on work, poverty, and opportunity.

Essay Topic 2

How does Smarsh seem to view the classic idea enshrined in the American psyche of the American Dream? What has hers and her family's experience of this idea been? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Smarsh feel about the way the media generally portrays white, working class, and rural people like her family? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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