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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 Erma tell the children to go stay after the argument with Lori?

2. What does Jeannette try to talk her mother into doing to make hers and the children's lives better?

3. Where does the Wall family move at the beginning of Part 3 of the book?

4. Why does Rex leave home and disappear for several days following the death of his mother?

5. How do the Thanksgiving guests remember Rex?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do Rex and Rose Mary follow their children to New York City to live?

2. When Erma dies, how does the Walls family react? How is Rex's reaction different from the rest of the family?

3. What changes does Jeannette make in her life after her father dies?

4. Why does Jeannette enjoy swimming with Dinitia more than going to the pool during the other swim sessions when the rest of the white children in Welch swim?

5. Why does Rose Mary decide to hang on to the diamond ring that the children find in the woods rather than selling it for much needed money? What does this say about her priorities?

6. What is Jeannette's reaction when a social worker comes to visit the home, and what does she tell her parents about it?

7. Describe Rex and Rose Mary's living arrangements and lifestyle in New York.

8. Describe Jeannette's reaction when her mother comes to her, begging her and her new husband to buy some property in Texas that abutted her own.

9. What happens when Jeannette makes an attempt to fix up her family's ramshackle home in West Virginia?

10. How do the Walls parents fail to protect their children from Erma?

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

Compare and contrast Grandma Smith and Erma.

1) What, if any, traits or beliefs do the two women share?

2) How are there personalities different and how does this affect Jeannette's relationship with each of them?

3) How do the personalities of each of these grandmothers reflect on the behavior and personalities of their children (Rex and Rose Mary)?

Essay Topic 3

Rose Mary tells Jeannette, as an adult, that her values are "all confused." What does Rose Mary mean?

1) How does Rose Mary view Jeannette's life and career?

2) What are Rose Mary's values like and how do Jeannette's differ?

3) What values or ideas do you think that they agree on? What is important to both of them?

(see the answer keys)

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