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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 explanation does Daddy offer for the ibis's behavior?

2. What is the swamp near their house called?

3. What is an "ibis"?

4. What kind of tree is in Brother's yard when he is a child?

5. Why does Brother think that it is a good thing for Doodle to have a silly name?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. How does Doodle die?

7. What changes in the narrator's life when Daddy makes Doodle a cart?

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

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

10. When Doodle collapses during their "training," what conversation do he and "Brother" have and how does the conversation show their different attitudes about Doodle's disability?

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 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)

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