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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. Where does John Hoel send his film to be developed after buying his first camera?

2. How does Olivia Vandergriff die?

3. When was the Richmond Cemetery established?

4. Where does Douglas Pavlicek caretake for a ranch?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Olivia Vandergriff's life like prior to her electrocution?

2. Where do Ray Brinkman and Dorothy Cazaly go on their first date? Why?

3. How did the American chestnut trees die?

4. What does Douglas experience during his service in the Vietnam War?

5. How does the play Macbeth relate to The Overstory?

6. How is Patricia Westerford's education described? What career does she enter?

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

8. How and where do Mimi and Douglas meet?

9. Why does Ray's profession affect his relationship with Dorothy?

10. What was the Stanford Prison Experiment?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the plot structure of The Overstory. What is the inciting incident in the novel? Where does the climax occur? What information is related in the falling action and denouement?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of connection in The Overstory. How does the author explore this theme both literally and metaphorically? What symbols are the reflection of connection? How?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the aspects of race and gender in The Overstory. How are these concepts developed through character interactions? What do you think the author is saying about race and gender? Why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 590 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample