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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 do Cap and Lucy purchase at Hodgepath's?

2. What does Cassie prepare for Lucy for breakfast?

3. How long has Lucy lived at the nursing home?

4. Who is Lucy's first daughter?

5. To what state does Will travel to tell the Union soldier's family about his death?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the novel begin?

2. Who is Sal Smith and what role did he play in Will's life during the war?

3. How did Ned Smythe's mother react to news of his death?

4. Who was Lady Marsden and what were some of the things she was noted for?

5. What is Will's behavior at the site where Ned was killed?

6. What role do soap operas play in the nursing home where Lucy lives now?

7. To what does Will attribute Cassie's aloof demeanor?

8. Why do most of the slaves remain at The Lilacs even after they are freed?

9. Who was Ned Smythe and what was his role in Willie's life?

10. What is the irony of Sal Smith's situation when Will sees him again many years later?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss whether Will was a victim of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. What are the symptoms of this disorder? What behaviors haunted Will for the rest of his life after his service in the Civil War? What do you think people called this disorder which was not formally recognized at this time?

Essay Topic 2

Create a brief character study of Cassie. What does she look like? What are her positive personality traits? What are some of her negative characteristics? What are her hopes and fears? What motivates her during her lifetime?

Essay Topic 3

The theme of the passage of time will be an important one in the novel. How does the author begin to build this theme? Give examples of the passage of time throughout the book.

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