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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 4, when Sandy talks about Edith crying, how many more times does he say she would cry in her lifetime?

2. What does Sandy say Edith never cried over?

3. Where is Sandy working at the beginning of Chapter 1?

4. Which grade did Roy and Ada's children never get past?

5. What brand of automobile did Lyman favor?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Ada and Roy come to live in Colorado?

2. Why did John suspect that the barbed wire may be Roy's and not his own?

3. What did John see in the field as he and Sandy drove past the Goodnough farm in Chapter 6?

4. How did Ada and Hannah become friends?

5. Who approaches Sandy Roscoe at the beginning of the book, and why?

6. How did Roy try to manipulate his daughter into refusing John's proposal?

7. How did Lyman stay in touch with Edith after leaving her behind on the farm?

8. How is Roy Goodnough described in the first three chapters of the book?

9. What happened to Ada in 1914, and how did Roy seem to feel about it?

10. What did the doctor do to help Roy, and what was the lasting effect of his accident?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Haruf's use of metaphors in the novel ""The Tie That Binds." What is a metaphor? What are some examples of metaphors in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the motif of dependence in the novel "The Tie That Binds." Who depends on whom? How does this affect the characters who have others who are dependent on them? Discuss Lyman's and Roy's dependence on Edith. How does this affect Edith?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the character Lyman. What are Lyman's defining character traits? What is his role or purpose in the novel?

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