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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 color is the tennis ball that rolls into the room in Chapter 4?

2. What does Florabel bemoan about her sister when talking with Joel in Chapter 5?

3. What does Zoo keep tied around her neck?

4. Where does the religious service continue after it is interrupted?

5. Who does Joel meet for the first time at the beginning of Chapter 4?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Joel's first vision of his father described?

2. How does Joel react when Randolph whispers something to him in Chapter 4?

3. How does Amy react when she learns Joel tried to run away?

4. What happened to Zoo during her marriage to a man named Keg?

5. What happens at the Landing after Jesus Fever dies?

6. What does Zoo do after Jesus Fever dies?

7. How does Idabel describe a tombstone that reads "Toby, killed by the cat" to Joel?

8. How is Joel's new room at Skully's Landing described?

9. Why is Zoo and Jesus Fever's religious service cut short?

10. How does Randolph describe his life with Dolores after they fall in love?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the role scenery plays in the book with respect to the portrayal of the South. What scene does the author appear to be setting in the first chapter of the book through the use of immense attention to detail in regards to the scenery of fictional Louisiana?

Essay Topic 2

The notion of religion appears to play a vital role in Joel's life at the Landing.

Part 1.) What role does religious traditions seem to play in the lives of characters like Zoo and Jesus Fever based on their services performed on Sundays?

Part 2.) What is telling of Joel's nature based on his reactions to religious traditions at the Landing?

Part 3.) What might the author be saying about religion based on his portrayal of the religious acts seen at the Landing?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the book's characters' purpose and motivation for using of manipulation. What motivations did Randolph and Amy have for continually manipulating Joel into staying at the Landing first by stopping his letters to his aunt and later by taking him away when his aunt would come to visit him?

(see the answer keys)

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