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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. How many chestnuts does Jorgen Hoel discover in the pocket of his smock from the night he proposed to his wife in "Nicholas Hoel"?

2. On what kind of trees does Patricia Westerford's work earn her a PhD?

3. Where does Jorgen Hoel's middle son become a banker?

4. How much were the participants in the Stanford Prison Experiment paid each day?

5. What crops do Jorgen Hoel and his wife plant in their first season in Iowa?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Olivia Vandergriff's become electrocuted?

2. Where does Olivia meet Nick? What are their circumstances at the time?

3. What tragedy does Nicholas Hoel experience in his youth?

4. How did the American chestnut trees die?

5. How do Olivia's parents respond to the change in her life after electrocution?

6. What do The Sylvan Prophesies and Sempervirens refer to?

7. What is the significance of the scroll and rings in Mimi Ma's backstory?

8. How is Nicholas Hoel's childhood described?

9. What leads to the downfall of Patricia Westerford's career? How is it revived?

10. What was the Stanford Prison Experiment?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Neelay Mehta's backstory and discuss his role in the novel. How is Neelay connected to nature? What does he do with this connection? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and discuss the character of Adam Appich in The Overstory. What is Adam's connection with trees? How does he become involved in the movement against logging? What happens to Adam at the end of the novel? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the process of clearcutting forests and the impacts of this process. Why are forests clearcutted instead of logged individually? How does this action affect the land? How does it relate to climate change?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 650 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample