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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. When Ben cannot be found after lunch, what do his parents initially think may have happened?

2. How does Ben respond when William offers to help him bury the badger?

3. Where does Ben initially try to take shelter from the coming storm after he gets lost?

4. What tool does Ben use to enlarge the burrow in Chapter Eight?

5. As Chapter Nine begins, at what point does Esther begin to wonder where Ben is?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter Eight, does the badger intend to bring the prairie chicken for Ben or does he essentially steal it from her?

2. Why does Ben retreat to the burrow and hide when he sees Burton and Lobo riding nearby?

3. What explains the badger's behavior in feeding Ben during Chapter Ten?

4. Why is the bird in Chapter Seven leading Ben away from the house?

5. Why has Ben been unresponsive to his family until he is taken into the house after his rescue?

6. Why does the search team from North Corners not turn up any sign of Ben in the two days they spend looking?

7. Describe the change in the MacDonald family's behavior toward Ben after the incident with Burton's badger, and Ben's response to the change.

8. Describe the fight between Burton and William.

9. Why does Ben go to such lengths to hide Lobo's body after the badger kills him?

10. Describe why the MacDonald family finally accepts Ben's story as complete truth.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author frequently foreshadows events to come in the novel by discussing some particular point in detail that seems somewhat irrelevant at the time. Cite three examples of foreshadowing in the book and explain why the author chose to foreshadow these events.

Essay Topic 2

The author claims that Ben is able to survive--though he does lose a great deal of weight--for two months on a badger's diet. Analyze the possibility of this. Can a human receive adequate nutrition from the items the author says the badger feeds Ben? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Eckert includes some imagery--such as the deaths of animals--that may strike the reader as gruesome and unnecessary. Are these details unnecessary? Or are they essential to the story? What message does the author intend to convey with these descriptions? Is the author heartless? Or is he merely trying to present an accurate picture of nature?

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