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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 happens to C.J.'s grandfather?

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

3. Why does Lloyd get off the train when Carrie is taking him to the doctor?

4. What is the name of Carrie Bishop's family farm?

5. What does Aunt Jane tell Carrie she must learn to do about family members?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why does Carrie learn to hunt, what does Miles' father want him to do after high school and what does he do?

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

5. What is C.J. thinking about babies and what does he remember about a discussion he had with Dillon? What is Dillon making and why?

6. What do the club members discover when they arrive back home and what do they do in response?

7. What happens to C.J.'s grandfather, why is C.J. named what he is named? What happens to C.J.'s grandfather and then to C.J. and his grandmother?

8. What happened with Rosa and a butterfly when she was young, what reminds her of that, why does she want to leave Mario and what did Mario do to Francesco?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

In a last burst of hope mixed with anger, the miners confront the army of guards. The miners lose. When two groups are opposed, the one that is most organized and structured ultimately wins.

1. Compare the situation of the miners with a situation in American history, for example the American Indians opposing the white man.

2. Do you believe the most powerful and organized always wins? Can the flea make the lion surrender? Why or why not?

3. How would this situation correlate with guerrilla warfare?

Essay Topic 3

The farmers' lands are taken from them and the coal companies move in to virtually take over the area and the miners' lives, controlling their housing, food and how they can spend their money.

1. How do you think powerlessness engenders anger?

2. What are alternatives to anger to deal with powerlessness?

3. Do you believe the anger seen in the miners' lives is caused by their powerlessness? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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