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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 the Old Man say every year when he and his family leave the County Fair?

2. The narrator lives in Northern Indiana with whom?

3. Where does the Bumpus family like to go shopping?

4. What is the little wooden house with the moon on the door found in the Bumpus' yard?

5. On the family road trip, where do the narrator and his brother fit in a car that is so full of supplies?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the misadventures the family experiences on their drive to Michigan?

2. On departure day, why does the Shepherd family fail to leave for their annual trip at six in the morning as planned?

3. Who does most of the work when it's time to prepare for the narrator's annual vacation?

4. How does Delbert Bumpus disrupt life at school?

5. How does the narrator trick Farkas into challenging him to a battle of spinning tops?

6. How does the narrator describe getting to the County Fair?

7. What happens when Randy, the Old Man, and the narrator ride the Whirligig Rocket Whip?

8. At the end of the Shepherd family's County Fair excursion, what is the Old Man's assessment?

9. Describe the race that the Old Man and the narrator watch at the County Fair.

10. Describe the Shepherd family's arrival at Ollie Hopnoodle's resort in Clear Lake.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Although a quiet force who's often in the background, Mother is still a strong, powerful force in the book. Explain how Mother supports the narrator, Randy, and the Old Man, helping make their lives smoother even when it means making sacrifices on her part.

Essay Topic 2

The Old Man is a study in contrasts. One minute he's cursing and complaining, the next he's laughing and joking about a challenge he just went through. Using examples from the book, create a description of the Old Man that shows him as a man of contrasts and mixed messages. How do his sons handle a father as unpredictable as theirs?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the narrator's expectations of his date with Josie and the reality of how the date turns out. What lessons does he learn through this experience? How does he behave after this date? What mistakes will he probably not make again?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,125 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample