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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 Pa use for a temporary roof?

2. What does Pa do when he comes home?

3. What are the Indians in the house wearing?

4. When does Pa decide they are going to leave?

5. Why does Laura have a difficult time falling asleep the night Jack returns?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Laura tell her Ma she wants to see relating to Indians and what does Laura’s Ma tell her?

2. How long does it take for Mr. Edwards and Pa to finish the house and why is Mr. Edwards helping them?

3. How does Pa and Ma start the house and what happens to Ma as they are building the house?

4. What does Pa do with Pet and Patty when they camp on the prairie?

5. How does Pa get help for the roof from Mr. Edwards and what kind of floor does Pa put in the house?

6. How does Jack appear at the camp on the prairie?

7. What do Laura and Mary do after breakfast?

8. How does the house and the barn get doors?

9. What does Laura tell her Pa about Jack and the Indians and what is his response?

10. How does Pa encounter a huge wolf pack and what does he do when they are around him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify the protagonists of the story and why you believe they are such? Identify the antagonists of the story and why you believe they are such? Which three secondary characters have the greatest impact on the plot? Which, if any, characters are not essential to the story? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Often, authors will write about what they know, and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the books more interesting. Discuss the following:

Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Wilder's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Wilder's probable agenda concerning that idea.

Essay Topic 3

Oftentimes, a book has more of a character-driven plot rather than action driven, and oftentimes the other way. Some books seem to balance the two. Discuss the following:

What do you think it means to say that a plot is character driven or action driven? Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why? Do you think it is possible to have a plot where action and character are developed to the same degree? Why or why not? What type of plot do you think Little House on the Prairie is? Explain your response.

(see the answer keys)

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