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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. How much did it cost to get cottonseed cake to the ranch for the sheep during the winter of 1948-49?

2. What time of day did Ivan's mother pass away?

3. What did D. L. Doig raise as a hobby at his Montana ranch?

4. How big was the ranch that Charlie was the foreman of when he was just 25?

5. When did an earthquake damage the Old Auditorium in White Sulphur Springs?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Thomas Ringer.

2. What did a forest ranger say about Ivan's mother?

3. What was boarding out?

4. What two things during Ivan's early weeks in the first grade set off any interest within him?

5. What was different about Ruth from the other ranch cooks?

6. Why did Ivan's father and Cliff decide to leave an outfit?

7. Describe Ivan's father as he looked in Ivan's photo album.

8. Why did Charlie decide to ask Bessie to help him with Ivan?

9. Why did Bessie marry Tom Ringer?

10. Why is the name "Smith River" a misnomer?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss what the Stockman and other bars meant to Charlie and his friends and how the place helped the men cope with the problems in their lives.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss why to Ivan his high school years were a regiment of calm rather than the torchlit, raucous time that many high schoolers experience. Use examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Ivan's relationship with his grandmother. Use examples from the book.

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