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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 do Mama and Daddy say about Brother's plan to train Doodle physically?

2. What does Mama mean when she tells Brother that Doodle might not be "all there" (2)?

3. When Doodle smiles at Brother for the first time, how does Brother feel?

4. What replaces the tree in the yard?

5. Who uses a book to find the name of the ibis?

Short Essay Questions

1. When the family get excited and try to hug "Brother" for teaching Doodle to walk, how does "Brother" react, and why?

2. In what ways is the summer of 1918 hard on the family's crops?

3. Which character says "And bless the Pearsons, whose boy Joe was lost at Belleau Wood" (8) and what does this comment foreshadow?

4. Where is the grindstone and what is its symbolic meaning?

5. What does the narrator make Doodle do in the barn loft, and how does Doodle react?

6. What changes in Doodle's living situation when he learns to crawl?

7. How does Daddy react to the hurricane, and what emotions do his reactions cause in his sons?

8. How does "Brother" go about teaching Doodle to walk?

9. When Doodle learns to walk, where does the family put his cart, and why is this symbolically appropriate?

10. Toward the end of summer, how does "Brother" say that he and Doodle are feeling about the training, and why do they keep going?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is there any defense of "Brother's" actions where Doodle is concerned? Write an essay in which you consider both why "Brother" did what he did and what effects his actions had in Doodle's life. Be sure to use textual support for your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Write a thesis-driven essay in which you analyze the setting of Old Woman Swamp. Consider questions like these: What events take place there? How do the boys feel while they are there? Why does it matter that it is a natural setting and that it is described as the only spot of beauty around them? Be sure to use textual evidence as support for your claims.

Essay Topic 3

Because "Brother" narrates the story, the reader knows his motivations. But what causes Doodle to go along with what his brother wants? Write an essay that uses clear examples from the text to support your claims about what Doodle's motivations are.

(see the answer keys)

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