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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 denomination is Shady?

2. What does Ned want to make and sell?

3. What does Abilene find, as the girls start their hunt?

4. What task does Miss Sadie give Abilene to do?

5. How much money does Ned have?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Abilene and her friends think is strange about the way Miss Sadie talks about herself in her stories?

2. Where do Ned and Jinx work on their business?

3. What does Shady's Place look like?

4. On June 13, 1936, what does Abilene think about while she works?

5. What does Abilene find in the hiding place she decides to use for her valuables?

6. When does Abilene discover that she has lost an item?

7. What does the fireworks man show Ned and Jinx?

8. What does Abilene think of the story Miss Sadie told her as her fortune?

9. Where does Ned go after leaving the town?

10. What newspaper clipping does Abilene show Lettie and Ruthanne at the end of "Likely Suspects"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss work in the novel.

1) What creates the desire to work in the novel? What do the characters want to work on, such as Hattie Mae's column or Jinx's fireworks?

2) What is the meaning of work in the novel? How does work give satisfaction as well as money? Does work such as Abilene's work in Miss Sadie's garden have meaning beyond the payment for the work?

3) How does work in the mines compare to other kinds of work characters do in the novel? What significance do the bad working conditions for the miners have?

Essay Topic 2

Abilene attempts to uncover the past and in the process makes the town remember the past. Discuss the past and remembrance in the novel.

1) What makes characters want to forget or bury the past? What are the benefits in the novel of remembering the past?

2) How does Abilene recover the past and cause the town to remember?

3) Is remembering the past harmful to anyone? Why?

Essay Topic 3

One of the main themes of the novel is prejudice. Discuss the following:

1) What problems does prejudice cause for the people of the town? What are the causes of the people's prejudice? Who does prejudice help and who does it hurt?

2) How does prejudice affect Ned and Miss Sadie? How does prejudice affect Jinx? How does the town overcome prejudice?

3) How does prejudice affect the town in the 1930s when Abilene arrives?

(see the answer keys)

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