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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. What does Mrs. Tiflin say after Gitano leaves?

2. What does Jody initially want to name the pony?

3. What would Billy Buck like to do with Easter?

4. For whom does Billy Buck work?

5. What kind of shoes does Jody Tiflin wear in late summer?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Carl joke would be needed for Gitano to be put out to pasture?

2. How does Mrs. Tiflin feel about Gitano staying at the ranch?

3. What is Grandfather's opinion of Billy?

4. What signals to Jody that Billy Buck and Carl have something unusual planned on the day he is given his pony?

5. While Jody's mother often finds his hands to be dirty, why doesn't she make him wash them?

6. How has Billy been able to gauge Jody's skill with horses?

7. What does Grandfather say about how dry it was in '87 and '61?

8. What does Nellie let Jody do that is unusual, when Jody is taking her back from Jess's ranch?

9. Why doesn't Jody let his friends ride his new pony when he shows it to them for the first time?

10. How does Jody react when he realizes he has killed a bird for the first time when Chapter 2 opens?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A sense of place is very much a part of _The Red Pony_. In a well-structured essay, discuss at least three ways that the setting of _The Red Pony_ plays into the novel in a way that another, different setting could not have done.

Essay Topic 2

While _The Red Pony_ does not have many characters, the characters it does have are very complex and complicated. Choose one character and discuss 1) why you think this character is the *most* complicated character of the text and 2) what literary devices Steinbeck uses to convey this character's complicated nature to the reader.

Essay Topic 3

Much of Jody's energy in Chapter 4 is focused on asking questions of his grandfather about his past and his past adventures. Discuss why Steinbeck focuses so much on this and what it shows about Jody's character as the novel reaches its conclusion. Make sure to use quotations from the text to support your positions.

(see the answer keys)

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