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 is like "stain on a sponge"?

2. What did William give his daughter as a homecoming surprise after her first year of college?

3. What poetry does the elder Abigail enjoy reading out loud before she leaves for college?

4. What had William hunted as a boy for a quarter for each skin?

5. What mammal does William see at the large freshwater lake in the middle of the swamp?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Abigail's reasoning for watering the geraniums so late in the season?

2. In addition to the month being stated, what other clues about the season is the reader given in the first paragraph?

3. How does William live his life after the death of his wife and son?

4. Describe Lorena Adams.

5. Describe Abigail, William's daughter, as a child.

6. What delays William's trip into the swamp to find the Robertson's liquor still?

7. What does the narrator mean when she says that the county will find out about her oldest daughters being sent away because "they always know everything"?

8. What are Abigail's younger children doing as she stands on the porch?

9. What does Aimee Legendre Howland have a craving for, and how does she meet this craving?

10. Describe the Howland tomb and its eventual use.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the first section of the book, the reader is introduced to Abigail. Although no specifics are given, it's evident that Abigail has been through a lot. Describe Abigail's mood. What in the first section helps you arrive at your conclusions?

Essay Topic 2

Abigail knows that John has joined racist societies like the Ku Klux Klan and the Citizen's Council. At first she believes that it's just something he's required to do as a Southern man in power. Since he treats Margaret and Oliver nicely, she believes he isn't prejudiced. Discuss what prejudice is and what it looks like.

Essay Topic 3

At the end of the first section, Abigail admits that if she were to be honest, she would wish that Robert weren't alive. Discuss this statement. Does this make Abigail evil?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 894 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample