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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 far did Orleanna and the family have to carry water?

2. Where does Mr. Axelroot live?

3. Who doesn't always take her quinine pills?

4. Which Price daughter is the youngest?

5. Who warns people away from Nathan's church?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when the family first arrives in the Congo?

2. Why does Adah think that church should be called the "Church of the Lost Cause." What does Nathan think about this?

3. Why do you think that Adah chooses not to speak?

4. What does Nathan Price's opinion of women seem to be based on the events and narration in Book 1?

5. What does Rachel think about the Congo on the day of the church picnic? How is she different than the people in the Congo?

6. What are some of the superstitions that the villagers have? Why do you think they have these superstitions?

7. Who is Mama Tataba? What does she try to help Nathan with? What does he do with her advice?

8. In Book 1, Orleanna says, "Married to a man who would never love her, she stays his wife because it was what she can do." What do you think she means by this?

9. Where do Nathan and Leah go in Book 2? What do they see?

10. Book 2 opens with a startling revelation about the Price family. What does the Orleanna say is going to happen to the family? What do you think will happen in the rest of the book to make this come true?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Children are often noted as being more observant. Do you think Ruth May was more observant than other members of her family? What things did she see that her other family members did not? Do you think that her curious nature got her into trouble?

Essay Topic 2

What is the importance of names in the novel? How are names important for people in the novel? What is the importance of naming something wrong in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Nathan Price is the only character from the Price family that does not narrate in the novel. Why do you think he does not have a voice in the novel? What effect does this have on the reader's perception of him and the events of the novel? What does Nathan represent or symbolize in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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