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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Mr. Mesington do for a living?
(a) He is an antique dealer
(b) He is a gunsmith
(c) He works as an auto mechanic
(d) He works in construction

2. What happened to Harv Kline after Richard Allen Mesinger's death?
(a) The British soldiers hung him also
(b) He became an alcoholic
(c) He fled the country and lived in Bermuda
(d) He went to jail for murder

3. How does Richard Allen Mesinger die?
(a) He is hanged by the British as a traitor
(b) Dysentery kills him
(c) He dies of stomach cancer
(d) He is shot in the head

4. According to the novel, how long was Richard Allen Mesinger "supposed" to have lived?
(a) To age fourteen
(b) To age forty
(c) Long enough to discover a genetic cure for cancer
(d) An additional 60 years

5. From age nine to ten, Richard Allen Mesington believes he will pursue which profession?
(a) Airplane pilot
(b) Law
(c) Veterinary science
(d) Medicine

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Richard Allen Mesington refer to the first bear he sees as an infant?

2. Where was Richard Allen Mesington born?

3. When the Mesington family moves away from Willow, Colorado, what state do they move to?

4. When was Richard Allen Mesington born?

5. What does the Mesinger family do in the early evening of Christmas Eve, 1993?

Short Essay Questions

1. Was the "sweet" rifle fundamentally different from other rifles of the period?

2. Describe the early life of Richard Allen Mesinger .

3. Do you think that Harv Kline feels he got a fair exchange with Tim Harrow?

4. What message does the novel convey?

5. The novel summarizes the life that Richard Allen Mesinger "would" have had if he had not been killed. Is this a valid narrative technique?

6. Describe the chain of events that leads to the rifle being accidentally discharged.

7. What happens to the adults that survive the accidental death of Richard Allen Mesinger?

8. Describe Richard Allen Mesinger's academic performance.

9. Who is the most sympathetic character in the novel, and why?

10. How is Harv Kline characterized in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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