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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. When it is clear that the training plan is harming Doodle, why does Brother continue?

2. What is an "ibis"?

3. What does Brother know is covering the casket that he makes Doodle touch?

4. Why does Brother cry when everyone hugs him for teaching Doodle to walk?

5. When Mama tells Brother that she is afraid that Doodle might not be "all there," what is Brother's response (2)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the family's reaction to Doodle when he is born?

2. What images of death does the story open with?

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

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

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

6. When Doodle and "Brother" take up telling one another stories to pass the time, what story does Doodle tell?

7. When the narrator finally realizes that he will have to take Doodle everywhere he goes, where does he take Doodle, and what is Doodle's reaction?

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

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

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

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

"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.

Essay Topic 3

Does the family truly love and accept Doodle? Use quoted textual evidence to support an argument for or against this idea.

(see the answer keys)

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