View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What makes the dust-filled air worse?

2. How do Mehring's friends feel about his peaceful life?

3. About what do they speak?

4. What else does he note about the corpse?

5. How do Mehring's business peers feel out his "hobby" farm?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jacobus do when he finds a dead body? Where does he find it? What does Mehring do?

2. Why is Jacobus angry, regarding Izak?

3. Describe the environment at the beginning of this chapter.

4. How do the Indians feel about the police investigation?

5. What do the children say about the attack on Solomon?

6. What is wrong with the river?

7. What has happened to Solomon?

8. Who is Merhring?

9. What does Jacobus learn about available work for the men?

10. Why is Mehring unconcerned about the river?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A theme in this book is mortality.

Part 1) What is mortality? Give examples from the text that involve this theme.

Part 2) Why is this a theme of the book?

Part 3) How are the characters in this book affected by this theme?

Essay Topic 2

The author strongly hints at "something large" being unearthed by the flood.

Part 1) What is literally being unearthed? Why?

Part 2) What is figuratively being unearthed?

Part 3) How are both of the events handled by Mehring and his farmhands?

Essay Topic 3

Mehring is the protagonist in this book.

Part 1) Describe Mehring.

Part 2) How does his character change throughout the book?

Part 3) Compare and contrast Mehring at the beginning of the book to Mehring at the end.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 656 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample