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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the incident in the first section of Part 2 that serves as a metaphor for the neglect that the children suffer?
(a) Jeannette falls out of the car and her parents don't notice for a while.
(b) The baby is left on top of the car.
(c) Brian is left in an apartment alone when the family moves.
(d) Lori runs away and the family doesn't realize that she is gone.

2. Why does Jeannette enjoy staying with Grandma Smith?
(a) She provides a sense of stability and makes hot meals.
(b) She treats Rex with great respect.
(c) She indulges the children's every whim.
(d) She is very funny and easy-going and loves to play.

3. What types of activities does Rex do with his children?
(a) He never does anything with them.
(b) He likes to paint and do ceramics with them.
(c) He tells them stories at night and plays outside with them.
(d) He likes to play board games and cards with them.

4. What happens when Jeannette is released from the hospital?
(a) Her father takes her out against medical advice.
(b) The doctors realize that they cannot keep her from her family.
(c) Jeannette's mother cannot pay the bill, so the hospital lets her go.
(d) She is able to get up and walk outside so the doctor tells her she can go.

5. What does Rose Mary want to discuss with her daughter in Part 1?
(a) How she needs help.
(b) Politics.
(c) The author's childhood.
(d) Painters and a recent art exhibit.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Jeannette's manner of telling her story in Part 1?

2. Where is Jeannette going when she first sees Rose Mary at the beginning of the book?

3. After Lily Ruth Maureen is born, where does the family move?

4. Jeannette's parents believe that children need:

5. What type of childhood does Jeannette say she had?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Lori and Jeannette help take responsibility for the new baby, Maureen, on the trip to their new home in Part 2?

2. What is life like for the Walls children when they first move to Phoenix?

3. How does Rose Mary try to make the family's Christmas in Phoenix special, and what happens to ruin it for them all?

4. What are Rex's feelings about how the family finances should be handled? How does he manage money?

5. How is the accident when Jeannette gets burned symbolic of her childhood as a whole?

6. What are some of the unorthodox ways that the Walls parents get money and items for the house?

7. Why do you think Rose Mary continues to refuse help from her adult children?

8. How was Jeannette's childhood atypical?

9. Why does Rex dislike staying with Rose Mary's mother (Grandma Smith)?

10. What is Rex's reaction to Rose Mary's plan to travel to West Virginia and what happens when the family gets ready to go?

(see the answer keys)

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