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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. How many miles did the Wilders usually cover in a day during their journey?

2. What caused crops to fail in the place Rose was born?

3. Who made Laura's sewing box?

4. Where did the Wilders keep the money they saved up for their trip?

5. What kind of people lived in Stanton?

Short Essay Questions

1. What caused the Wilders to want to move from South Dakota?

2. What did the Wilders think of Lincoln?

3. What did Laura call the James River, and why?

4. Why did one woman call the people in Missouri hovels?

5. What does Laura say is strange to her about rivers and lakes?

6. How did Laura describe the conditions of the farms by the James River?

7. What is Laura's longest entry of the entire trip about?

8. Why did Mr. Cooley wish they had taken a more westernly route?

9. What did local farmers in Nebraska say about their fields that looked as though they were doing well?

10. What did Laura marvel at while passing a farm in Nebraska?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What role does the lap desk play in the story, and what does it symbolize? How is the plot altered by the presence of the lap desk?

Essay Topic 2

Patience was an attribute that was very apparent in a number of the people described in this book. Where did this attribute appear, and how was the trip changed and enhanced because of the people who possessed this trait?

Essay Topic 3

There are a number of unlikely friendships forged in this book. Please explain some of these friendships, and describe how their relationship was forged, as well as how this relationship affected the outcome of the book.

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