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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. In what month and year does the narrator's story begin?

2. Who touches Lise and sends her into a screaming fit after Emil attempted suicide?

3. What reason does Frank give for the Fourth of July being one of his favorite holidays?

4. What word does Ruth instruct the family to use when talking about Skipper, the dead man the boys had found on the tracks?

5. What object does Frank see sticking out of Danny's Uncle Warren's pocket?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Frank feel about his older sister Ariel?

2. When Frank and Jake come upon the Indian man and the apparently lifeless man referred to as Skipper, the Indian man says, "Know what I like about railroad tracks? They're always there but they're always moving" (32). When Jake replies, "Just like a river" (32), why is Frank shocked at Jake's reply?

3. What causes Frank to abruptly run away from the Indian man and to drag Jake along with him?

4. How does Nathan react to Father Peter's communication with him about the townspeople's problems with Ruth?

5. What lengths has Gus gone to in order to make sure Nathan does not know of the card games he runs in the basement of the church?

6. How does Axel's request of Jake at the hospital reveal differences between Frank and Jake?

7. How is the character of Julia Brandt a foil to the character of Ruth Drum?

8. What happens within the conversation Frank overhears between Nathan and Emil after Emil's return from the private hospital?

9. How does Officer Doyle's search of Warren Redstone's lean-to sway the reader's opinion of Warren Redstone's character?

10. What are the purposes of the Drum family's visit to Emil and Lise Brandt's house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The socioeconomic status of the different families within New Bremen is a frequent focus of the novel's events. What messages is the author sending about wealth, success and prestige?

Essay Topic 2

Often within literature, characters with disabilities are presented as being wholly innocent, good, and infallible. Krueger does not fall prey to these generalities, instead depicting flaws and problems in the lives of both the abled and the disabled. Choose two different characters with disabilities, analyzing the characterization methods Krueger uses to present them and stating his purposes in doing so.

Essay Topic 3

Many of the novel's characters have war experiences in their pasts that significantly affect their futures. Choose three of these characters, analyze their relationships to war experiences, and state and prove the author's message about the nature of war.

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