View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Tom do when he is depressed?

2. In what subject does Jackie earn a degree?

3. Why is Tom disheartened by saying Mass every Sunday?

4. The way that the vine grows up the tree is in the shape of ____________________.

5. Who is Sim's son who is missing in the flood?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Jackie's role in the miners' strike as a member of the press?

2. Where does Jackie find Tom the morning after the dam burst and what does she tell him even though he is already dead?

3. What comfort can Jackie take away from Tom's death?

4. What threat does the dam pose and how do Dillon and Arthur Lee differ in how to manage the problem?

5. Where does Jackie encounter Tom again and what are the circumstances that have them spending more time together?

6. What impact can Dillon see that the strike will have on the way of life he has known?

7. How has Tom's childhood plagued him and how is he conflicted about his life choices?

8. How does Lech Walesa's broken promise to come to support the coal miners' strike symbolize a lack of support for the region?

9. What are Dillon's emotional reasons for telling Jackie that he is her father?

10. Why do the family graves need to be moved after the American Coal Company obtains rights to Homeplace?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Create a character study of Tom. What are his physical characteristics? What are his motivations? What are his fears? What are his dreams? What else can you say about Tom?

Essay Topic 2

Create a character study of Jackie. What are her physical characteristics? What are her motivations? What are her fears? What are her dreams? What else can you say about Jackie?

Essay Topic 3

Project into the future ten years after the end of the novel and write a brief synopsis for Jackie's life. Who will be present in her life? Where will she be living? What work will she be doing? What will her thoughts about the world be at this time? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,007 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample