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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. Why doesn't Jack recognize Andy?

2. Where would Jack see her during the second time that he noticed her?

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

4. How long was there between Jack's first meeting with Rose and their next encounter?

5. Specifically, what do the people who gather to remember Jack recall about him?

Short Essay Questions

1. After Wheeler gives Elton the news about the farm, what does Wheeler do?

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

3. What was the result of Jack's plans for Glad and Clara to take over the farm?

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

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

6. How did the townspeople feel about Rose McInnis and her husband?

7. What was Jack's relationship with Glad like?

8. What does Mat observe and realize after the preacher concludes his prayer during Jack's funeral?

9. What happens to Jack after he has to rent out the farm?

10. What does Andy do before he leaves Port William to go to college?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Summarize the plot of the novel, focusing on the events occurring in the present as the author is writing. Then, summarize the plot of Jack's life using his recollections to guide you. Are the two of those plot summaries similar to one another? Do they parallel one another in any way?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that compares Jack and Andy. What do the two characters represent? How do their parallel stories prove the point of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

There are many times during Jack's recollections where he wishes things would have been different, and often, these events could have been dramatically changed if Jack had chosen to do something about the situation. Repeatedly, the reader sees that Jack is unwilling to do much to change those situations. Is Jack's unwillingness to actively change situations in his life just a matter of his personality, or does it have something to do with the way he was raised? Could this passive nature of Jack have to do with societal customs of the time in which he was living? Write an essay that addresses this topic.

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