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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 birds cause the horses to tear around because the noise reminds them of crowds at the horse races?

2. Where does the Lady have the children sit?

3. What word does Ben draw an angry line through?

4. What was Dick Whittington's profession?

5. How cold is it on the night the black hen is frozen?

Short Essay Questions

1. What worries Abby about the chickens' spring eating habits?

2. Who brought the horses' ancestors to the Americas, and why?

3. What reaction does the cook have when Dick faints at her door?

4. How does Whittington take his bath?

5. How does the captain react to Dick Whittington's cat?

6. What argument does the Lady give in favor of Whittington moving into the barn?

7. What advice does the vet give Bernie when he calls about Spooker?

8. How did Whittington's former owner's parents react to his reading problem?

9. What does Dick ask for, in addition to the king's initial offer, in exchange for his cat?

10. What happened to Abby and Ben's parents?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel contains death and violence, which are a part of life. Discuss the death and violence in the novel.

1) Why is Whittington violent toward rats and other cats? How is his violent nature as a predator portrayed in the novel? What is its significance? How is his violence controlled?

2) What other elements of violence are there in the natural world, such as the violence of the rats, the hawks, and Havey? What causes this violence? How is it a part of life? Should or could it be eliminated?

3) How does Ben act out violently in the novel? What causes his violence? How is it different from the violence of the natural world?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the structure of the novel.

1) How are the two stories, the story of Dick Whittington and the story of the barn, intertwined?

2) How do the chapter divisions of the novel affect the reader? Why does the author choose these chapter divisions?

3) How is the novel episodic, telling a series of shorter stories? How does it have an overall structure, including the ongoing story of Ben learning to read?

Essay Topic 3

Ben struggles with reading. Discuss the role of reading in the novel and how it is portrayed.

1) What difficulties does Ben have with reading? What helps him learn to read?

2) Why is reading important in the novel? What are different characters' perspectives on reading, including Dick Whittington, the animals in the barn, the children, and their grandparents?

3) How do different characters learn to read? What variations are their in these characters relationships with reading?

(see the answer keys)

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