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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. Who was sleeping upstairs?

2. Why did Alvin give his boots away?

3. What did Peggy figure out about why her mother had been disappointed with her?

4. What kind of talent was mostly found among seventh sons?

5. Why did Alvin look forward to leaving the town of Vigor Church to begin his apprenticeship?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Horace need his secret kept, and why is it in the best interests of Alvin not to tell his secret?

2. Why wasn't Alvin able to beat back the Unmaker initially when it had started to snow?

3. Why did Hank Dowser seek to calm Makepeace Smith after he had riled him up?

4. What kinds of things told Cavil clearly what profession his visitor occupied?

5. How did Peggy see the world around the Hio?

6. Why was the man that Peggy had been dancing with confused when Peggy stopped dancing?

7. Why does Cavil perceive his visitor as an overseer?

8. Why couldn't Alvin simply fill the well that he had dug and make Hank Dowsers' well good?

9. Why do most people feel guilty when they hear the story of the Tippy Canoe Massacre?

10. What decision changed little Peggy's life, and in what way did it change?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Alvin's deteriorated relationship with Cally. What does this deterioration show about Cally's character, and what does it reveal about Alvin's? Could this relationship be salvaged by Alvin? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

How does this novel paint a dark picture of slavery and therefore of American history? Is it important to keep in mind the past? Why or why not? What is important about remembering the era of slavery in America?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the newer forms of technology that are talked about in the novel for the era that the novel was set. What are some of the newer ideas, concepts, and things that are discussed when the reader takes into account that the novel was set in the early 1800s?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,076 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample