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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 did the families do with their bridge at night?

2. What did the villagers have to travel across to get to the nearest town?

3. What was the most feared animal on the river?

4. How did Nhuong's cousin's mother die?

5. What did Hung make a dummy of?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the crocodile attack the villagers?

2. How did the farmers use their dogs to capture the wild hogs?

3. What would it have meant if Tank was killed by the bull in the section?

4. What did the villagers do with the wild hog?

5. It what way did Tank prove to be very smart?

6. How did the villagers stop wild animals from getting into their houses?

7. How did Tank protect his herd from the tiger?

8. How did Nhuong's cousin teach the song birds different songs?

9. Why are wild hogs so difficult to kill?

10. Describe the authors role on the farm as a child?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the book's chronological setting.

1. What were the main concerns during the 1940s? How does the author express these concerns?

2. How would the author change the book if it was set in today's society?

Essay Topic 2

What was Tank's role as a buffalo in his herd? Why did Tank become so important to the village?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the differences between the novel and autobiography formats. What are the main elements of a book? What are the main elements of an autobiography? What can novelists express that an autobiographer cannot? How can autobiographies keep to the facts while still maintaining a level of entertainment?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 711 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample