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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 is Izak playing loudly?

2. To what does Mehring compare getting his leg stuck, pulling to get it out, and then it just coming free?

3. For what is the beer and goat meat?

4. Why does Mehring ride in tourist class on a plane ride from Lisbon?

5. Why does Mehring no longer have much to do with pig iron?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why can the orange river lilies now be seen?

2. Who does Mehring run into as he is getting coffee? What does he find shocking about this girl?

3. How do the farmhands spend Christmas day?

4. What do the Indians think of the locals?

5. What does Mehring learn about his son? Why is he upset?

6. What does the disaster mentioned in this chapter do to the land and people?

7. What happens to Mehring as he is walking in the third pasture?

8. How is Mehring only charged with "interfering" with the girl and can easily make the issue disappear?

9. What does Mehring do while he is in the third pasture?

10. What is wrong with Phineas' wife?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

Mehring walks down the reeds in the third pasture and gets his leg badly stuck in the mud.

Part 1) Describe the rest of this event.

Part 2) How does Mehring react to this event? Why?

Part 3) What does this event symbolize?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 828 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample