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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. Where does the sheriff say the murderer his brother-in-law is looking for might be?

2. What is the subject of Stucky Cybulskis' writing?

3. What locations are popular with the rich because of the disease epidemic?

4. Who remains in town, who might or might not keep the secret?

5. How long is Miss Sadie out of the country before she can return to try to reunite with her son?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do Abilene and her friends decide to organize another Annual Homecoming Celebration?

2. What happens to Burton after the land auction?

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

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

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

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

7. What does Ned hope the people in the town are doing, in his letter home?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss guilt in the novel.

1) Where does Jinx's sense of guilt come from? How does it affect him and those around him?

2) What characters feel guilty for the wrongs they do? How do they compare to characters who have no sense of guilt?

3) Is guilt a positive or negative force in the novel?

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 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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