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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 Abilene do to try to get Miss Sadie to continue telling her stories?

2. What causes the Missouri sheriff to want to double-check the identity of the person being buried?

3. What is the janitor doing, when the girls see him at the school?

4. Who does the government man turn out to be?

5. What year does the newspaper contest focus on?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Ned's job in the military?

2. What does the man from the government who comes to Shady's bar do while he's there?

3. What does Jinx do when he sees the two sheriffs who are in town?

4. What objection does Abilene make to Miss Sadie's story?

5. How does Abilene discover who her father is in Manifest?

6. What does Miss Sadie tell Abilene about the Widow Cane property?

7. How does Devlin ask Mrs. Larkin to dinner?

8. What does Ned write in his letter about being wounded?

9. On July 15, 1918, what does Abilene go to the cemetery to look for?

10. What does Hattie Mae convey to Abilene about Gideon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss storytelling in the novel.

1) How does storytelling, through Miss Sadie's stories, the "Remember When" entries, or other storytelling, help the characters maintain a relationship with the past?

2) How does storytelling affect or change the memory of the past? How does storytelling selectively change what is remembered and how?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss ambition and capitalism in the novel.

1) How does Devlin's ambition affect others in the town? How does the novel portray Devlin, as a capitalist?

2) How does Jinx's ambition and desire to make money compare to Devlin? How does Jinx's desire to make money affect others? How does the novel portray Jinx? Is he also a capitalist?

3) What are other characters' ambitions? How does the novel portray those ambitions?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the unknown, fear, and mistrust in the novel.

1) How does fear of the unknown affect the townspeople's views of others from different cultures? How does it affect the townspeople's view of Miss Sadie in both time periods?

2) What causes mistrust in the town? Who does mistrust hurt and benefit?

3) How does Abilene view the unknown? How is her attitude different from others in the town?

(see the answer keys)

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