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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 does Jack's lawyer think about doing as he lingers on Jack's farm?

2. After Ruth's death, what did Jack worry about?

3. How was Ben killed?

4. Why does Mat have an unusual amount of energy on the day people come to pay their respects to Jack?

5. At the beginning of Chapter 9, why does Jack sit down once he reaches his destination?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of burial does Mat know Jack would have wanted to have?

2. Why does Wheeler go to Jack's farm?

3. What was Clara's life like after college?

4. What happens when Andy sees Jack right before he leaves?

5. What happened to Ben not long after Jack paid him the money Jack borrowed from him?

6. Why is Mat annoyed with the preacher during Jack's funeral?

7. After his accident on the flooded roadway, what had Jack decided to do?

8. What does Andy begin thinking about as his conversation with Jack comes to a lull?

9. What kind of funeral does Mat know Jack wanted to have?

10. How does Mat feel about Jack's death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the author's point in writing this novel? Clearly, Wendell Berry was trying to get a message to Americans through Jack's story. Write an essay that explains what you think Berry's point is and whether or not he was effective in making the point.

Essay Topic 2

When Mat tells Mattie the rabbit hunter story, the moral of the story is that people should be content with what they have in life and not strive to acquire more. Is that moral the moral of Jack's life? Was Jack truly content with what he had? Did Jack escape the temptation to strive for more in all areas of his life? Was Jack's contentment with life always a good thing in all aspects of his life? Write an essay that analyzes Mat's impression of Jack's contentment with life.

Essay Topic 3

Of note in the novel is the emphasis that the author places on the slow death of the agrarian society in America post World War II. Write an essay that summarizes how Berry showed that agrarian society was dying out and being replaced by modern society. Give examples from the novel that show how Berry could have possibility felt about the issue as he wrote the novel.

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