View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Brother comments that "Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible" (3), what two literary techniques are being used?

2. When Brother asks "What are the words that can solder cracked pride?" (11), what is he comparing words to?

3. When Brother says that both he and Doodle believed in his "infallibility" (7), what does he mean that they believe?

4. At first, Daddy is upset by the hurricane and looks defeated. What does he do that makes Brother and Doodle think that things will be all right?

5. When Brother says that the smell of the graveyard flowers is coming through their windows and "speaking softy the names of our dead" (1), this is an example of which literary technique?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Doodle and "Brother" do with the flowers at Old Woman Swamp?

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

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

4. When Mama tells "Brother" that Doodle might be mentally disabled, what does "Brother" plan to do, and what changes his mind?

5. Whenever Doodle wants to quit trying to learn how to walk, how does "Brother" motivate him to keep trying?

6. How old is Doodle when he learns to walk, and why is his age relevant to him learning to walk?

7. When the boys are almost ready to show the family that Doodle can walk and they keep hinting that they have a big secret, what does Nicey tell them and what is its thematic significance?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you analyze the importance of Doodle's birth "in a caul" (1). What does this represent to various characters, what does it represent in Western culture, and how do these representations have significance for the role that Doodle will eventually play in the family's life? Be sure to cite in MLA format any outside sources that you use, and offer textual support for your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you consider the effect that story structure has on the reader's understanding of theme. Think about how this story would be different if "Brother" told the story as it was happening or even immediately afterward. When you consider that "Brother" has had years to grow up and think about his actions towards Doodle, how does that impact your understanding of what his story means? Be sure to use textual support for your claims.

Essay Topic 3

"Brother" feels ashamed of Doodle because of Doodle's physical differences from the average boy that "Brother" knows at school. What other kinds of unnecessary shame do people feel about their relatives or friends, or about themselves, based on differences from what they think is "normal"? Choose one of these to write about--explain what the prejudice is, what it can cause people to do and feel, and why people should actually not be ashamed of this "difference." Cite all of your sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,089 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample