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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 the college lecturer say is the backbone of civilization just before Olivia leaves the auditorium in "Trunk"?

2. Who wrote the lines: "Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself?" (129)?

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

4. Where does Jorgen Hoel's youngest son begin working after he grows up?

5. How many acres do Jorgen Hoel and his wife plow and plant in their first year in Iowa?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How do the Hoel chestnut trees get planted? What happens to them?

3. What leads Adam Appich to his joining the group of activists?

4. How does Johnny Appleseed factor into the novel?

5. What does Douglas do after his service in Vietnam?

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

7. What connection does Adam Appich have to trees in his childhood?

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

9. How does Neelay Mehta come to love computers and coding?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the different settings in The Overstory. What do these settings have in common? How are they unique? What imagery is used in describing these settings?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and discuss the characters of Ray Brinkman and Dorothy Cazaly in The Overstory. How do these characters meet? What is their relationship like? How does their relationship evolve over time?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss three examples of irony in The Overstory. How is verbal irony employed and to what effect? What dramatic irony can be seen? What is an example of situational irony?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 658 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample