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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 does Sandy say Lyman always dressed in after returning home?

2. After Clevis left, which city did Sandy take Twyla to?

3. Who would eventually lease the Goodnough land after Roy's death?

4. When did Mavis decide it was time for her and Sandy to marry?

5. What happened to Mavis following the car accident?

Short Essay Questions

1. After Roy's death, what did Edith decorate her house with?

2. What was Sandy's educational standing at the end of his fourth year of college?

3. On the night of Lyman's return, what did he bring out from his suitcases?

4. Why does Sandy say he is not proud of the decade that followed his mother's remarriage?

5. When Mavis decided it was time to get married, what did she tell Sandy to do?

6. What activities were Sandy, Mavis, Edith, and Lyman said to often do together?

7. After John's death, what did Sandy and Leona argue about?

8. What did Edith tell Sandy she was looking forward to towards the end of Chapter 9?

9. When, where, and how did John die?

10. Who were Clevis Stouffer and Twyla Thompson?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the motif of escape that is found throughout the novel "The Tie That Binds." Why did the protagonist wish to escape, and from what? Why did she feel that she was unable to do so? What was Lyman escaping from when he left the farm? Why did he end up returning to the farm?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Haruf's use of the flashback. Is it an effective way to learn about the past before the novel's start?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the narrator of the novel, Sandy. What are his defining character traits? Is he a reliable narrator? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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