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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 in the basket Phoebe brings to Jack?
(a) Ham sandwiches and fresh fruit.
(b) Chicken, biscuits, carrots and ranch dip.
(c) Tuna, bread and cookies.
(d) Chicken, rolls, celery and salt.

2. What does Jack see as he starts up the tractor after lunch to go back to work?
(a) The other men all sit and have a smoke.
(b) His mother standing in the doorway of the kitchen waving to him.
(c) Phoebe runs back to give him a hug.
(d) Phoebe turns and waves to him.

3. What are Jack's chores after the accident?
(a) He runs errands.
(b) He works the farm land and equipment.
(c) He collects the eggs.
(d) He paints the barn.

4. What does Jack notice about his sister as she is laying out the food?
(a) She is weak with hunger.
(b) She is falling asleep from exhaustion.
(c) She is crying and very unhappy.
(d) She is smiling and acting like she is playing house.

5. What month is it when Jack sits under the tree with Phoebe and has lunch?
(a) August.
(b) June.
(c) May.
(d) July.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Jack's mother comfort him and his sibling?

2. When Jack enters his home after riding the tractor home in the thunderstorm, how does he behave?

3. Where does Jack sometimes find his father after the accident?

4. When Jack stops for lunch after driving the tractor in the fields all morning, where does he sit?

5. When does Jack feel almost happy and content?

Short Essay Questions

1. Jack begins to play the French horn in earnest. Why does he do this? Where does he practice?

2. What are some of the ways Dale Hawthorne deals with his grief over the death of his son? What comment does the narrator make as to people's opinion of Hawthorne's behavior?

3. While crouching next to his father upon Dale Hawthorne's homecoming, Jack softly whispers something no one can hear. What does he say, and why does he softly whisper this so that it is inaudible?

4. 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?

5. When Dale looks up to the door and sees Jack, what does Dale say to his son? How does Jack respond to his father?

6. How does Jack's mother handle her son's death? How does she shoulder the care for her children and the farm?

7. How old is Phoebe when she brings lunch out to the field? As she comes out to the field, how is she described by the narrator? What are her responsibilities?

8. When he is driving the tractor, how does Jack's behavior mimic that of his father?

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

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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