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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. In Part One: Chapter 6, how long did it take for lemons to ripen in a room flooded with ethylene gas?

2. In Part Two: Chapter 2, where did Bill and Jahren get old camping equipment for the lab?

3. In Part One: Chapter 4, how long did Jahren work in a pharmacy?

4. What did Jahren discover that the powder from ground hackberry was in Part One: Chapter 8?

5. In Part Two: Chapter 5, how many One A Day vitamins would it take to provide the magnesium that a maple tree needs?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Part One: Chapter 3, what did the author say about seeds?

2. In Part Two: Chapter 7, what were the pecularities of Bill's van?

3. In Part One: Chapter 9, how did Jahrens reveal that stems functioned?

4. In Part Two: Chapter 4, how did Bill and Jahren decide to teach their soil class?

5. In Part One: Chapter 6, when and how did Bill live in a hole?

6. In Part One: Chapter 1, what did the author's father do and for how long?

7. In Part One: Chapter 1, how did the author get money for her work, and why was that stressful for her?

8. In Part One: Chapter 8, how did Jahren feel when she discovered what the seed of a hackberry was comprised of?

9. At the beginning of Part One: Part 4, what jobs did Jahren remembering have as an undergraduate?

10. In Part One: Chapter 9, how often would trees lose a limb?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Jahren wrote her story from a first-person point of view. How does the use of the first-person point of view help readers identify and empathize with Jahren? How does the point of view affect what readers know about and think of Jahren?

Essay Topic 2

Jahren made a comment that “it takes a long time to turn into what you’re supposed to be” (265). What did Jahren mean when she made that comment? How did it take her a long time to become the person she was supposed to be? What helped her become the person she was meant to be?

Essay Topic 3

Jahren used personification in the novel, especially when referring to plants. How did Jahren use personification when describing plants? How did the use of personification help readers identify with plants and eliminate any distance between the topic and readers?

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