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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. Why is Jeff disgusted with the army food?

2. What is Jeff's punishment?

3. Who lives in the clapboard house in the woods?

4. What sounds on the Bussey farm in the case of emergencies?

5. What necessity is lacking in the Cherokee Indian Nation?

Short Essay Questions

1. What chores does Jeff attend to his one day at home on furlough?

2. What made Jeff's mind up about his 'dearest wish'?

3. How far did Noah Babbitt walk and why?

4. What does Jeff find when he returns home after hearing the seahorn blast?

5. What impact does the raid by the Missouri bushwhackers have on Jeff?

6. Who were the men who came to Jeff's home?

7. What is Bess's role in the encounter with the bushwhackers?

8. What is Jeff remembering as he plows the field?

9. What is Jeff's punishment for defending his namesake?

10. Where do Jeff and the Kansas Volunteers overtake the main force of the enemy being led by General T.C. Hindman?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Part 1) Find a piece of foreshadowing that stands out heavily in the reading. What does the author use to make the reader aware that this is foreshadowing?

Part 2) How would the story have been different without this moment of foreshadowing?

Essay Topic 2

Part 1) Why did the author choose to write the story in past tense? What does it convey to the author?

Part 2) Why does the author reveal at the end of the story that Jeff will sleep on the ground for many years to come but not answer the question of whether he will be able to find Lucy?

Part 3) Would it have been as effective to write the story in present tense?

Essay Topic 3

Does it make the book more or less enjoyable to know it is a work of fiction? Would it make the book more interesting if its main characters had actually existed? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 755 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample