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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. How many freedoms are included in the pamphlet that the Office of Facts and Figures hires White to work on in 1941?

2. What idea does White speak against while in Washington?

3. How do Katharine and White communicate while at work?

4. How long does White tell his friend, Charles Muller, that he can stay away from the farm?

5. Where is Katharine's father a successful businessman?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the purpose of White's letter to John Wentworth in 1947?

2. Why does White decline a job offer from the Saturday Review?

3. How does White describe his meeting in Washington in January, 1942?

4. What is the New York Herald Tribune's response to White's letter, and how does he reply?

5. Who is Alice Burchfield?

6. What is the topic of the humorous letter of outrage that White sends to Harold Ross in July, 1945?

7. What is "One Man's Meat"

8. What does White do after he returns from his road trip?

9. Why does Katharine hesitate before agreeing to marry White?

10. What does White write about his brother, Stanley, and his sister, Lillian?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

E.B. White provides an autobiography about his family background as the preface for the "Letters of E.B. White".

1) Describe the background of White's parents and what led them to make their home in Mt. Vernon.

2) Explain which siblings White is closest to and why.

3) Describe the help and encouragement that White receives while growing up.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the New Yorker magazine in the 1950s with the way it was in the 1920s. Use White's letter to his brother, Stanley, as a reference for his concern about the changes taking place at the magazine. Also, include White's description of the original goal of the New Yorker and his experiences while working there as he writes to an author that is researching a book.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze White's response to a letter by Cathy Durham about why he has not written another children's book. Include why he might have replied that way, the response of Cathy's librarian, and the solution that White's publisher develops for preventing any future issues.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 821 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample