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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. Who was the president during the start of the Great Depression?

2. What did a big family of Vietnamese immigrants do for Jeannie to thank her for helping secure their home loan?

3. Who tells Smarsh she is smarter than most adults he knows?

4. Who was the District Attorney Smarsh ran into at work with her grandmother?

5. What kind of offense does Smarsh say just about every adult she knew had spent a night in jail for committing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens that leads to Nick losing his house in Part IV?

2. In Part III, what does Smarsh's father do to her that she is very hurt by?

3. What was one reason Bob found it fairly easy to get full custody of his and Betty's son in Part IV?

4. In Part IV, what does the maroon wall symbolize for Jeannie?

5. What habit does Smarsh pick up in Part III that she sometimes tells God she will try to stop?

6. What does Smarsh say is a big differences between the poor and the middle-and-upper-class families who make mistakes?

7. In Part IV, how does Bob break Betty's heart?

8. In Part IV, what was Betty's husband Bob like to both her and Jeannie?

9. What does Smarsh learn from her father Nick regarding houses?

10. Why were Smarsh and her brother embarrassed when their father drove them to school in Part III?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Arnie's death reveal about Smarsh's place in her family and her relationship with them as she ages? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

How does Smarsh's decision to address much of the book to "August," the daughter she never birthed into poverty, affect the reader's experience of Smarsh's story? Write an essay explaining your answer.

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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