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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. What is the kitchen like in Jack's house?
(a) It is empty and dark.
(b) It is filled with people and the smell of food.
(c) It is painted a dark blue.
(d) It is a mess from the wind storm.

2. What do the men talk about while they are at the feed store?
(a) Democrats and the weather.
(b) Feed and grain.
(c) Their wives.
(d) Jack and the accident.

3. What does Jack find off of the cow path?
(a) Cherries and red raspberries.
(b) Cherries and apples.
(c) Huckleberries and blackberries.
(d) Blueberries and raspberries.

4. What is one habit Jack's father takes up after the accident?
(a) Talking in his sleep.
(b) Drinking beer all day.
(c) Chain smoking Lucky Strikes.
(d) Eating constantly.

5. What kind of man is Jack's father?
(a) A cruel and hateful man.
(b) A sensitive, intelligent dreamer.
(c) A kind and stupid man.
(d) A silly and impetuous man.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Jack respond to Phoebe's question at the beginning of lunch?

2. What is one of the story themes Jack uses again and again?

3. What is one thing Jack's father thinks about when riding his motorcycle?

4. What does Jack's father struggle with about his religious beliefs?

5. What is it that makes Jack crazy once his good feelings wear off?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the reader realize when Yegudkin plays the French horn?

2. As his lessons continue, what does Jack begin to realize about his teacher and his rants about America and Russia?

3. What is Jack's "black memory"? What sounds and sights does Jack relive in his black memory?

4. As Jack rides the tractor after the accident and tells his stories of woe, how does he react to who he has become?

5. The narrator describes a soliloquy spoken by Jack's father at the Grange one night. How does Jack remember his father on that evening? Why does he recall this memory when he is angry?

6. Jack has a nightly routine upon entering the house. What is that routine? What seems different to him on this evening?

7. What does Jack think about as he prepares the cows for milking after realizing why Phoebe wanted him to say grace? How does he feel as these thoughts enter his mind?

8. Describe Jack's uncles. What do they do on the farm? What do they look like? How do they behave?

9. When Dale Hawthorne returns home after his three week absence, he does not leave again. What does he do to occupy his time? What does he do when he becomes restless?

10. Where does Jack find peace and solace? With whom does he talk?

(see the answer keys)

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