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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 to hold the fireplace rocks together?

2. What are the first two logs Pa put into a ditch for the house called?

3. What does Laura almost do when her father is not watching at the creek?

4. What wakes Laura in the middle of the night in Chapter 7?

5. What does Laura think of the water that comes from the bottom of the well?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Laura end up wading in the creek?

2. Where do the Ingalls stop for supplies and where do they spend the first night on the road? What do they hear that first night?

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

4. What do Laura and Mary do after breakfast?

5. What does Pa do every morning when digging the well with Mr. Scott and what happens to Mr. Scott in the well one morning?

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

7. Why does Charles Ingalls want to move west?

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

9. Why does Pa have problems when he feeds Pet and Patty and how is the problem resolved?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

Trace and analyze the theme of self-reliance in Little House on the Prairie. Consider the following questions as you write: Examine which characters are most concerned with being independent and how they demonstrate independence? What might drive them to be self-reliant?

Trace and analyze the theme of joy in one’s life in Little House on the Prairie. How is joy found in a difficult life? How are the joys in the Ingalls lives different from those in modern America? How might finding the good in everyday help a family survive a harsh environment? Use examples from Little House on the Prairie to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

How do you think the reflection of Laura looking back on her life might be very different then her life had actually been? Do you think Laura sees her past as being better than it was? Why or why not? Use examples from Little House on the Prairie to support your answer.

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.

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