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

2. What is it that makes Jack crazy once his good feelings wear off?
(a) The fact that his father is gone.
(b) The lack of rain.
(c) The amount of work to do on the farm.
(d) The stupidity of the cows.

3. What does Jack drink from the thermos Phoebe brings him?
(a) Cold milk.
(b) Iced water.
(c) Iced tea.
(d) Lemonade.

4. What is Jack's response to what he sees as he starts up the tractor after lunch with Phoebe?
(a) He blushes and turns away.
(b) He waves to the other men as he drives off.
(c) He quickly drives the tractor away.
(d) He touches his straw hat.

5. Where does Jack sometimes find his father after the accident?
(a) Lying on the cow-barn floor crying.
(b) Lying on the couch watching tv.
(c) Lyning in the hammock in the back field.
(d) Lying in bed drinking.

Short Answer Questions

1. On what does Jack concentrate in order to regain his composure after his painful thoughts?

2. What time of day is it when Jack brings in the herd from the upper pasture?

3. Where on the farm does Jack work with his uncles?

4. What do his co-workers accept about Dale Hawthorne since his son has died?

5. What does Jack finally contemplate while riding on the tractor telling his stories?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. The narrator explains that Dale Hawthorne "trades off his sorrow for the sorrows of others." What does he mean by this?

4. How does Jack feel after asking Yegudkin if he will ever play the horn as well as the teacher? How does Yegudkin respond?

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

6. Although Jack's morning routines are pleasant, his guilt creeps into his day and the illusions of the morning are shattered. How does he behave as the day continues? What changes for him?

7. How does Jack respond to working with his uncles? How does he spend his time?

8. Describe the Hawthorne family farm that Jack works on a year and a half later. What has changed? What remains the same?

9. What is Jack's first reaction when he sees his father and what is occurring in the living room? Why can he not act on his impulse to run?

10. How does Jack Hawthorne spend much of his time after the accidental death of his brother? What does he do during those activities?

(see the answer keys)

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