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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 had the Old Lady and Old Gent moved to the hotel in Salt Lake City?

2. Who are Johnny’s patients?

3. What confuses Phil regarding George and Rose?

4. How does Rose respond when she learns she will be playing the piano for the governor and his wife?

5. How do both George and Rose change, regarding supper?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Beech unable to grow and develop?

2. Why does Phil feel let down by their twenty-fifth cattle drive?

3. What are a couple things that may have turned Johnny to drink?

4. What bothers George about Phil?

5. How does Phil get Rose's goat regarding music?

6. How does George act in a way that surprises Phil, at the end of Chapter VI?

7. How does Phil's behavior in college affect George?

8. How does Peter feel about his new life in Herndon?

9. What makes both George and Rose reluctant to come home to the ranch?

10. How does the narrator describe the town of Beech in Chapter I?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

From the very beginning of the story Phil notices a change in George. How does George change throughout the course of the story? What leads to these changes? How do these changes affect his relationship with his brother? Are these changes beneficial for George and/or others? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

As the story progresses, much less time is spent on George. Why might the author have chosen to move him to the background? What might be George's thoughts and feelings regarding Rose's drinking, Phil's behavior, the relationship between Phil and Peter, and Phil's death? How does the information from the story support your response?

Essay Topic 3

What does the reader learn about the ease of moving the Indians to the reservation? What does this reveal about the white people at the time of The Power of the Dog? How does Phil's view of Indians reinforce the attitudes of the white people at this time?

(see the answer keys)

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