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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 does Miller make up for not having a father to give him information?

2. Miller asks for what from the reader?

3. What does Miller do after completing high school?

4. Miller's uses many words to describe his meeting with MacMurray. Which of the following is not a work he used to describe his meeting with MacMurray?

5. What does Miller use as an analogy for God's love and father-son love?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapters 5 and 6, Miller makes a connection between authority and love. Describe this connection.

2. Miller presents statistics about the percentage of males in prison raised without a father. He suggests there is a connection between these statistics and the orphaned elephants. What is this connection?

3. In Chapter 6, Miller admits to having difficulties in establishing positive male relationships. What reasons does Miller give for having difficulty establishing positive male influences in his life?

4. In Chapter 4, Miller begins to understand the importance of a relationship with God as a "father figure." What does he learn?

5. In Chapter 1, Miller describes several events and activities in which he attempts to interact with adult men. Most of these experiences do not appear to have been successful. In addition to camping, making a derby car, and playing with a remote-controlled airplane, what other "manly man" activities may Miller have missed because he did not have a father?

6. Miller describes how on their first musth, young, orphaned elephants go into the wild and find a male mentor who shows them how to be a male elephant. If the young elephant cannot do this, what happens to the young elephant?

7. In Chapter 3, Miller admits to being resentful towards authority figures. To whom is he referring and why?

8. Miller's mother attempts to find father figures for her son in several places. Describe Miller's mother's efforts. How successful were these efforts?

9. Miller states that his experience in which he did not get to enter a derby car in the race did not affect him. Do you agree? Why or why not?

10. In Chapter 2, Miller again tells stories that span his life. What is the effect of this storytelling approach on the reader?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Decision making is an important task of manhood according to Miller. Many young men raised without fathers are poorly prepared for this responsibility. Miller suggests that a father's presence is crucial to the development of decision-making skills. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons to support your decision.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 11, the author addresses integrity. He does not define integrity. Instead, he gives examples of integrity and provides stories about how he learned about integrity. Define integrity as Miller uses it in the context of this book. Compare and contrast Miller's concept of integrity with your understanding of integrity. How are they similar? Different? What is missing, if anything, in Miller's definition? What would you add or change about his definition? Why or Why not?

Essay Topic 3

Most books have many characters. Memoirs, in particular, are often very focused on a person and his/her family. Who were the primary characters in this book? What techniques did the author present these characters to the reader? What do you know about these characters? What do you believe should have been shared with the reader that was not? Do the characters change across the book? If yes, how? What are the strengths of the way in the primary characters were presented? The limitations? How did you respond to these characters as the book developed.

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