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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. In Chapter 17, "Bounty and Peril," what crop does the family harvest "Italian style" (266)?

2. In Chapter 18, "Repairs and Fortifications," what clever way do the boys find of communicating across distances?

3. In Chapter 13, "Unpleasant Tasks," what is the "unpleasant task" that the chapter title refers to?

4. In Chapter 11, "Our Estates," what does the family decide to call their two newest outposts?

5. In Chapter 16, "A Winged Steed," what does the family name the new mount?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 17, "Bounty and Peril," what new method of skinning animals does the narrator devise, and why does he feel it is necessary?

2. In Chapter 11, "Our Estates," what new source of potential danger does the family discover, and what do they decide to do about it?

3. In Chapter 15, "We Explore Inland," how does Ernest kill the muskrats, and what does he intend to do with them?

4. In Chapter 17, "Bounty and Peril," when the boys return from hunting, what does Jack say about hunting with the ostrich, and what is the narrator's reply?

5. In Chapter 13, "Unpleasant Tasks," how do the narrator and his three older sons deal with the monkeys who have been damaging their outpost at Woodlands?

6. In Chapter 16, "A Winged Steed," how do the narrator and his sons succeed in catching an ostrich?

7. In Chapter 12, "Anniversary," how do Jack and Fritz wake the family, and how do their parents respond?

8. In Chapter 16, "A Winged Steed," what does the narrator feel as the boys ride away on their first solo expedition?

9. In Chapter 14, "A Casualty," why does the narrator not take the pinnace to explore beyond Cape Disappointment?

10. In Chapter 13, "Unpleasant Tasks," what improvements are made to the cave house during the winter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the characterizations of the family members that are offered in the book; which family members do you get to know the best and the least? Write an essay that offers a theory about why this is. Be sure to offer textual support for your claims. If you use historical or biographical evidence in your essay, cite your sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you analyze the development of the narrator's character over the course of the novel. Explain how his character is revealed through his own words and actions, as well as through how his family reacts to him. Also note in what ways he changes or fails to change.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you evaluate this novel as a teaching tool. What are the main values that it seeks to teach, and is it successful? Are there other values that it teaches besides those that the narrator directly expresses? Are these likely to be values that audiences of the time would have endorsed, and why or why not? Be sure to use textual evidence to support your claims.

(see the answer keys)

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