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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. The flower that is presented as being the symbol of the human desire for beauty is the ______.

2. Appleseed used most of his crops in order to make ______, which led him to be thought of as an 'American Dionysus.'

3. Instead of wind and water moving genetic material around, the emerging plants were now enlisting the help of ______.

4. The plants that form flowers and encased seeds began to emerge on the earth during the _______ period.

5. Pollan asserts that even though daffodils came early in the season, _______ is not a true color for a child.

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Johnny Appleseed not stay in Brilliant when the people ask him to do so?

2. What is the possible coincidence that Pollan points out between the flowers and their ability to arouse desire in bees?

3. Who are some of the groups which roamed the Ohio lands long before Johnny Appleseed was there?

4. Why did Pollan plant tulip bulbs when he was a child, according to his own reflections?

5. What is the main reason why the apple is presented in a book about the idea of desire? How does the apple relate to desire?

6. Why does Chapman not want to have anything to do with the grafting of apple trees in order to breed certain strains?

7. Who is John Chapman and what is his importance in the course of the history of the apply?

8. What happens when a person cuts an apple at its equator with a sharp knife?

9. Pollan points out there may or may not be a correlation between the beautiful and the good. What does he think there is probably a correlation between?

10. What happens as a result of the different environments in which a flower might be able to grow?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The story includes the idea that Johnny Appleseed spread the seeds of apples all over America, although no proof is given.

Part 1: Does it seem plausible that one man could have spread all of the apple seeds in the country?

Part 2: What do you think Johnny's motivations for spreading the seed might have been?

Part 3: Why is this story so nostalgic to those who live in America?

Essay Topic 2

Marijuana, though illegal, is tolerated in many parts of the world, including the United States.

Part 1: Why do you think marijuana is tolerated in so many parts of the world?

Part 2: Do you agree that marijuana should be tolerated in society?

Part 3: How do you think the marijuana plant can or cannot help society as a whole?

Essay Topic 3

At one point, Pollan points out that the tulip offers no nutritional value, while the fruit and the seeds provide sustenance.

Part 1: Why do you think Pollan included such a contradiction in this book?

Part 2: Do you think that Pollan's contradiction causes his book to be less valuable to a reader?

Part 3: Do you think it's possible to create a book without contradicting one's self?

(see the answer keys)

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