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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 does Lucille bring home from the store?

2. What does Lucille tell the principal at school?

3. Where do Sylvie and Ruth spend the night?

4. What prompts the sheriff's visit to Ruth's home?

5. What does Sylvie tell the sheriff about Ruth hiding in the orchard?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lucille do about the sewing after fighting with Ruth?

2. When the school sends letters to Sylvie about the girls' truancy, what does Sylvie do?

3. What does Lucille demand of Sylvie about dinner?

4. What is Sylvie's reaction to the town's concerns about her and Ruth?

5. In Chapter 10, what does Sylvie do to continue to change enough to keep Ruth?

6. What does Lucille do when she can no longer stand living with Sylvie?

7. What happens when the sheriff comes to the house to see about the fire Sylvie lit to burn trash?

8. What do the girls do when the weather turns warm?

9. Why does the sheriff visit Ruth and Sylvie and what do some neighboring women do about his visit?

10. When Lucille turns the lights on in the kitchen one night what does she see?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sylvie goes into a frantic mode to try and convince the town that she is capable of caring for Ruth. Do you think people can change that fast? Do you think people, once they are adults, can change at all? Support your position with illustrations from the book and your own life.

Essay Topic 2

Lucille seems to want a "normal" household. Do you think this is true of most children? Explain your answer with illustrations from your life.

Essay Topic 3

Ruth and Lucille's mother commits suicide in the first chapter. How do you think this event affected Ruth and Lucille's emotional and mental health? What do you think could cause a mother to commit suicide with two small children waiting for her at home?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 848 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample