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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 the grandfather say is run by a passel of blockheads?

2. Who do the police hear in the attic?

3. What part of Columbus is under water?

4. What did Zenas die from?

5. What is the name of the town's doctor?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Aunt Sarah Shoaf counter her fear of burglars?

2. Why does Mother oppose Father sleeping in the attic?

3. How does Mother get the neighbor's attention?

4. How could Grandfather caused the family to drown?

5. Describe how the family erupts into chaos in the first chapter.

6. How did the town react to their mistake about the burst dam?

7. What do Grandmother and Mother fear about electricity?

8. How does Thurber's mother get overexcited in this chapter?

9. What does Thurber say happened to Zenas?

10. What is Father's relationship with his sons?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Thurber's poor eyesight affect his life? What kind of person do the students think Thurber would have been if he had better eyesight?

Essay Topic 2

What are the differences between fiction and non-fiction in terms of the following?

1. Language.

2. Character.

3. Structure.

Essay Topic 3

How accurate do the students think Thurber's representation of World War drafting is? How does he change his representation so it fits in with the story's themes?

(see the answer keys)

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