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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 works as an auto mechanic
(b) He is an antique dealer
(c) He is a gunsmith
(d) He works in construction

2. Academically, how does Richard Allen Mesington perform?
(a) He is below average
(b) He is failing out of school
(c) He is a little above average
(d) He is a superior performer

3. What does the Mesinger family do in the early evening of Christmas Eve, 1993?
(a) They walk the neighborhood looking at Christmas decorations
(b) They go snow sledding
(c) They sit down to a huge dinner of goose
(d) They play "sub-for-Santa" with the Kline family

4. When Richard Allen Mesington is fourteen years old, who is his girlfriend?
(a) Peggy
(b) Isabelle
(c) Sarah
(d) Sissy

5. When he is an infant, how does Richard Allen Mesington get Sissy to stop walking?
(a) He sits down and cries
(b) He pulls her fur
(c) He asks her to stop
(d) He says he'll tell his mom if she doesn't do what he says

Short Answer Questions

1. When Richard Allen Mesington is eleven and twelve years old what is his favorite hobby?

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

3. What happened to Mrs. Mesinger after Richard Allen Mesinger's death?

4. From what ailment did Richard Allen Mesington suffer as an infant?

5. When Richard Allen Mesington is four years old, he has an exciting experience doing what?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. The Mesinger family moves several times during the novel; what impact does this have on Richard Allen Mesinger?

3. Is the "sweet" rifle a work of art?

4. Describe Richard Allen Mesinger's academic performance.

5. How does the rifle fire after 217 years?

6. The novel openly mocks Tim Harrow's personal philosophy that draws from firearms and American history, the United States Constitution, and Christianity. Do you think that these sources of information are suitable for mockery?

7. What message does the novel convey?

8. What does Richard Allen Mesinger think about his neighbor Harv Kline's antique gun?

9. Describe Richard Allen Mesinger's early teenage life.

10. Sarah steals the rifle from John Byam as he dies; does Tilson steal the rifle from Harv Kline?

(see the answer keys)

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