View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What method does Imogene tell Mother she can use to get a real baby to play Jesus?
(a) She can ask her mother to have another baby.
(b) She can put an ad in the newspaper.
(c) She can borrow her neighbor's baby.
(d) She can kidnap a baby.

2. In the pageant incarnation described at the center of the narrative, who plays the role of Mary?
(a) The narrator.
(b) Gladys.
(c) Imogene.
(d) Alice.

3. The narrator states that "the Herdmans started out mean, right from" (59) what?
(a) Their first screams.
(b) The stroller.
(c) Their first breaths.
(d) The cradle.

4. Why do all of the shepherds get nervous when Mother mentions the Angel of the Lord?
(a) They are scared of Alice, the girl playing the Angel of the Lord.
(b) They are scared of Imogene, the girl playing the Angel of the Lord.
(c) They are scared of the narrator, the girl playing the Angel of the Lord.
(d) They are scared of Gladys, the girl playing the Angel of the Lord.

5. What is the true source of the smoke that causes one of the women in the Ladies' Aid group to call the fire department?
(a) Claude's cigarette.
(b) Imogene's cigar.
(c) Ollie's chemistry set.
(d) Gladys's pipe.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Imogene feel about Mother's announcement that the pageant will use a doll for the role of Jesus?

2. Whom does the narrator name as the character who always plays the role of Mary?

3. In what location does Imogene ask the narrator how to check out a book from the library?

4. What reason does Mother finally give Mrs. Armstrong so that she can get off the phone and cook the pork chops?

5. Who begins to write down on a pad of paper every bad action taken by the Herdman siblings during the pageant rehearsals?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way does Reverend Hopkins redirect his congregation when he notices their treatment of the Herdman siblings?

2. In what ways does Mother display the qualities of fortitude and perseverance?

3. Discuss how Mother's character is depicted as having unending supplies of patience and compassion.

4. For what reasons does the pageant not have a real baby to play Jesus?

5. How is irony used within the depiction of the cigar-smoking incident in the church restroom?

6. What behaviors of the Herdman siblings indicate their keen interest in the subject of the Christmas story?

7. Discuss the significance of Mother's comment when she states to Father, "No, their chief instinct was to get Mary and the baby out of the barn. But even so, it was Herod they wanted to do away with, and Mary or Joseph. They picked out the right villain -- that must mean something" (50).

8. How does the narrator's interaction with the Herdmans change the narrator's perspective of the Christmas story?

9. How is foreshadowing employed within the last two sentences of Chapter Six?

10. What does the library symbolize?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,645 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample