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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 use to unlock Miss Sadie's shed?

2. Where are the graves of those who died in the tragedy that struck the town after Ned's death?

3. Who does Abilene tell, when she thinks she's identified the Rattler?

4. On July 3, 1936, what chores does Abilene do at Miss Sadie's house?

5. What does Abilene offer to do for Miss Sadie's injury?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Where in the classroom do the girls find Stucky's writing?

3. How does Abilene know how to understand a telegram?

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

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

6. What role does Abilene take on at the end of the novel?

7. How does Abilene feel about the growth of Miss Sadie's garden?

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

9. In "The Shadow of Death," what does Abilene realize about her compass?

10. What does Shady do while the liquids are being mixed for Jinx's mixture?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the structure of the novel, which is non-linear, divided between two timelines.

1) How does the writer use letters and articles as part of the structure of the novel? How does the author use Miss Sadie's stories?

2) Why is the story told non-linearly, moving between a past and present timeline? How does this affect the story?

3) What other structural elements and transitions does the writer use and why?

Essay Topic 2

The novel is set in a small town in middle America in two different historical periods. Discuss the setting of the novel.

1) How do the historical time periods of the Great Depression and World War I affect the novel and its characters?

2) How does the location of a small town in rural America affect the novel? Why does the author choose this location?

3) Why does the author set the novel in one location, but in two time periods?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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