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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 event causes Little Ann to become sickly and weak?

2. How is Rubin Pritchard killed?

3. How does Rainie Pritchard characterize Billy's grandfather?

4. What does Billy's grandfather tell the boy he must bring with him to the hunting contest?

5. What does Billy do to help himself see the dogs in the fog in Chapter 11?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Papa believe the family's prayers have been answered in Chapter 19?

2. Describe the exchange that takes place between Billy, Grandpa and the Pritchard boys.

3. Describe the role Old Blue plays in Chapter 13.

4. What are the rules of the hunting competition?

5. Describe Billy's thoughts as he travels from his grandfather's store to his family's home after finding out about the hunting competition.

6. Describe how Billy's dogs catch the three raccoons that put him in the running for the gold cup.

7. Describe the struggle between Billy's dogs and the mountain lion.

8. Why doesn't Billy follow his dogs to the third raccoon in the final round of the hunting competition? What does he do instead?

9. Describe how Billy's dogs catch the first two raccoons of the final round of the hunting competition.

10. Years after leaving the Ozarks, what does Billy imagine he would find if he should ever visit the dogs' graves?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Where the Red Fern Grows, a few minor characters have a major impact on the story line. Select one of the following minor characters to analyze: The Pritchard Boys, Mr. Benson, Mama, Papa. Discuss:

1) The personality (character traits) of this character.

2) The relationship between this minor character and the major characters in the story.

3) The impact of this character on the story line: How does s/he influence the overall story line? How would the story be different if this character was removed?

Essay Topic 2

One of the topic Where the Red Fern Grows address is the contrast between town and rural life. Discuss what the novel has to say about this topic. Cite several specific examples from the novel to support your ideas.

Essay Topic 3

In Where the Red Fern Grows the author uses several recurrent symbols. Choose two of the following symbols (red fern, raccoons, the lantern, the ax, the abandoned campsite, the river) and

1) describe how the symbol is presented in the novel

2) discuss the significance and impact of the symbol on the plot and character development.

Be sure to cite specific examples from the novel to support your ideas.

(see the answer keys)

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