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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which two members of the Drum family refuse to attend church on the Sunday following Ariel's death?
(a) Frank and Jake.
(b) Nathan and Jake.
(c) Nathan and Ruth.
(d) Jake and Ruth.

2. When Frank returns home from his first church service after Ariel's death, what does he tell Jake?
(a) Frank tells Jake that Karl is the one who killed Ariel.
(b) Frank tells Jake that he should be nicer to Ruth.
(c) Frank tells Jake that their parents are heading for divorce.
(d) Frank tells Jake that he is his best friend.

3. What gossip do Frank and Jake hear that causes them to run and seek Gus' advice for what they should do about it?
(a) They hear townspeople talking about Nathan's affair with Edna Sweeney.
(b) They hear townspeople talking about Karl's twin brother.
(c) They hear townspeople talking about Ruth's affair with Emil.
(d) They hear townspeople talking about Karl's homosexuality.

4. Jake asks Frank what they should do in order to deal with their grief and Frank says he has an idea but that Jake may not like it. What is Frank's idea?
(a) To clean their grandfather's house from top to bottom.
(b) To work in their grandfather's yard.
(c) To paint their grandfather's house.
(d) To build a pool in their grandfather's yard.

5. What do the police tell Frank when they call just before the boys are about to leave for Ariel's visitation service?
(a) That Nathan is in jail for assaulting Ruth.
(b) That Gus is in jail for assaulting Officer Doyle.
(c) That Morris Engdahl is in jail for attacking Emil.
(d) That Morris Engdahl is in jail for assaulting Danny.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Warren Redstone's explanation for his possession of Ariel's piece of jewelry?

2. What is missing from Warren Redstone's lean-to when Frank and Jake go to search it?

3. What is Frank's reply when Jake asks what they should do about the news they have received about jail?

4. Who gives Frank a ride home from the Brandt estate after telling him that the rich always get away with their crimes?

5. What does Frank's and Jake's grandfather give to them as a bonus for a job well done?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Frank so surprised to see Ruth and Gus sitting together at the kitchen table when he and the rest of the family return from Sibley Park?

2. Why is it ironic that Ruth refuses to attend the New Bremen church service at which Nathan preaches right after Ariel's dead body is found?

3. In what ways are the complicated nature of the grief cycle demonstrated to the reader through the experiences of Frank and Jake?

4. What secret does Karl finally reveal to Nathan that makes it fairly clear that he had no hand in Ariel's murder?

5. What is the significance of how Frank spends the money he has been saving up from the yard work he does for his grandfather?

6. What happens to cause suspicion to fall on Warren Redstone in relation to Ariel's disappearance?

7. When the sheriff finally notices Frank standing in the doorway after the questioning, what idea does he provide that gives Ruth hope?

8. What is the cause of Lise's heightened anxiety and frantic behavior when Nathan goes to Emil's house to talk to Ruth?

9. What elements of family life at the Drums' home drive Ruth to leave the family to stay elsewhere for a while?

10. What revelations does the sheriff communicate to Nathan when they meet in Nathan's office at the church and who becomes a suspect as a result of these revelations?

(see the answer keys)

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