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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 is the warden of the prison from?

2. What is the name of the man who marries Alexandra's personal servant?

3. Whom does Ivar say will comfort Alexandra after the deaths of Marie and Emil?

4. What time is the mass on the day of Amedee's death?

5. What is the name of the hotel Alexandra stays in when she goes to see Frank in prison?

Short Essay Questions

1. What brings Emil joy while at church after Amedee's death and how does he feel about this?

2. Whom does Alexandra say are her only friends?

3. What does Alexandra do when she first gets to Lincoln to visit Frank in prison?

4. What does Marie do when she hears about Amedee's pain?

5. Why does Alexandra feel safe marrying Carl?

6. How does Emil describe Amedee's situation before he leaves for Omaha?

7. What does Alexandra say makes her mourning harder, and what does she do to ease this?

8. What does Frank think about as he leaves his farm after finding Marie and Emil together?

9. What does Marie think about when she sees Frank's old cane?

10. What happens when the lights go out at the festival?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Friendship is a strong theme throughout the book. Where are some places that this theme appears, and how do the characters touched by it react? How do certain friendships change over the course of the book, and what causes these changes?

Essay Topic 2

The characters in this novel all had their own goals and motivations. Select four characters and write their main motivation throughout the book and how this goal affected the characters around them.

Essay Topic 3

This book takes place in a few different settings. Describe some of these settings and how they affected the course of the plot. Why might Willa Cather have chosen these particular places for this plot to take place?

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