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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 reason does Virgil’s father give for planting multiple areas?

2. What first causes Mr. Myles to respond?

3. How did Sae Young continue to run the store after being attacked?

4. Why does everyone give Maricela advice?

5. Why did Sae Young and her husband find the business they bought in the U.S. their best option?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain why Virgil becomes angry and ashamed at his father.

2. Describe Sam’s contest, and the winning idea.

3. What is Curtis’ reaction to his tomato plants?

4. Explain Sae Young’s life prior to her “accident”?

5. How does Leona help Maricela see things differently?

6. What brings Sae Young back out into the world, and why?

7. What happens to the lettuce in the chapter “Virgil”?

8. What does Virgil find in the ground, and what does he eventually use it for?

9. What is the point of the program for teen mothers?

10. Describe what Nora does to allow Mr. Myles to garden.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several times in the novel, the characters mention that the community garden gives them hope. Wendell, in particular, notes that he can’t change his life, but he can use the garden to change his circumstances. Sae Young, too, uses the garden to enhance her existence, as does Nora, and other characters. Choose three characters, and explain how the garden has given them hope, or changed their lives.

Essay Topic 2

Gonzalo learns a valuable lesson in the novel as he witnesses his father being less than perfect. This moment has a profound impact on him in the book, as his emotions follow the realization. Explain how Gonzalo’s processing of his father’s imperfections leads him to an understanding about his father. What did Gonzalo learn?

Essay Topic 3

What is the importance of Kim in the novel? She is present in the opening of the novel as the pioneer of the garden, and she is the first at the end of the novel to go back and begin planting in the spring. She is also mentioned in Wendell’s chapter as the child who gave him hope. What do you think the significance of this is?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 843 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample