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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. Where does Rex work when the family lives in Battle Mountain?

2. Why does Brian go to investigate the Green Lantern?

3. Why does the family leave for Arizona in the middle of the night?

4. Why does Jeannette meet Rose Mary at this location in Part 1?

5. What do the Walls parents teach the children?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Jeannette's parents react to the death of the baby, Mary Charlene?

2. What gift does Jeannette ask her father for on her tenth birthday and how does he react?

3. How does the author describe her father in Part 2 of the book?

4. What are some examples of the neglect that the children suffer during their time in both Battle Mountain and in Phoenix?

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

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

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

8. How does Rex teach Jeannette to swim, and how is it representative of his philosophy of parenting in general?

9. Why does the Walls family frequently pack up and move in the middle of the night?

10. Why does Rex take the children over the safety fence to touch a cheetah at the zoo?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Rose Mary describes herself as an "excitement addict" at one point in the book. How does Rose Mary view herself?

Discuss:

1) What does she mean when she says that she is an excitement addict? Give examples of her behavior that support this view of herself.

2) How does she justify her behavior when it threatens her children's well-being?

3) What is her philosophy of life and how does it influence her parenting style?

Essay Topic 2

Life is hard for the Walls family wherever they go. However, in different places it is hard in different ways. Compare their lives in Phoenix, Battle Mountain, and Welch, answering each of the following questions about each location:

1) What are the family's basic living conditions like?

2) What is Rose Mary's emotional condition like and how does it affect the rest of the family?

3) Discuss Rex's emotional condition as well.

Essay Topic 3

The author's views of what is important and what will bring her happiness change throughout the book. Discuss how her ideas of a good life evolve from childhood into adulthood. Consider:

1) What things does Jeannette hope for as a child?

2) What is her life like as an adult, and is she happy?

3) Do Jeannette's values change throughout her life, or is she essentially the same person?

4) What does Jeannette ultimately decide that she has been looking for, and where does she find it?

(see the answer keys)

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