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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. For whom does Clabe go to work?

2. What does Ben Honaker do for a living?

3. What job does Isom assume?

4. What does Rondal recite one time from school when C.J. visits?

5. What has happened to the creek on Clabe's family land?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the railroad companies doing to the farmers and how do the get it done?

2. What does Rondal do on his first day in the mines and how does he feel at the end of the day?

3. What does Rondal think his father refers to when he talks about the snake and where does most of Clabe's earnings go?

4. From Clabe's stories to Rondal how has the family land changed and what does Clabe and his family do on Sundays?

5. What does Carrie figure out about a typhoid outbreak and what do the mining companies tell her when she tries to do something about it?

6. What does Rondal's mother tell him when he goes to work for the mines and why does she change her mind?

7. What do Carrie and Lloyd do after having dinner at Miles' house, what does Lloyd tell Carrie the next day and what is her response?

8. What do Rondal and C.J. argue about and what does Rondal tell C.J. about the miners?

9. What does C.J. find out about Rondal in a letter from him and how does he feel about the information?

10. How does Dillon feel about what the coal companies are doing and what does he do in response to their actions?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. What is a plot? What are the most important elements of a plot and their definition? Do all novels have a plot? Why or why not?

2. Write a brief synopsis of the plot of Storming Heaven, identifying where the various elements of the plot occur (Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement). Do you find it difficult to identify the plot? Why or why not? What about the various elements of the plot?

3. Identify the major sub-plots and their elements (They may not contain every element of a major plot). Do the sub-plots add to the main plot? Why or why not. Are the sub-plots interesting in and of themselves? Why or why not.

Essay Topic 2

There are a number of interesting questions raised by Storming Heaven. Questions that Giardina may have wanted the readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the author's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Giardina's probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

Essay Topic 3

One of the major themes of Storming Heaven is that of the differences among various classes in the early 1900's in the United States. Choose one of the following to discuss:

1. Discuss the idea of "class" as it exists in Storming Heaven. Be sure to include specific examples from the text and a definition of class.

2. Compare and contrast the life of upper-class Americans with that of either the middle class or lower class (i.e., the miners) as it exists in Storming Heaven. What is the upper class attitude towards earning a living? The middle class? The lower class? Which class seems the most practical? The most idealistic?

3. Discuss the following question: What is more of a barrier among people: class, education, religion or gender? Explain your reasoning fully using examples both from the text and your own life experiences.

(see the answer keys)

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