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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 color do the finches turn as spring approaches?

2. What do Ben, Bernie, and Abby use to get hot water down to the barn when the road is blocked with snow?

3. What nationality does the Lady say her ancestors are?

4. What does the stranger with the gold coin give to Dick?

5. Where does Whittington say Ben should sit for his reading lesson?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Fitzwarren do at the docks?

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

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

4. How do Abby and Ben change after the horses arrive?

5. What reasons does Dick give the carriage driver to try to convince him to bring Dick to London?

6. Why was a good rat hunter invaluable to Dick Whittington?

7. What happens that causes Dick Whittington's cat to vow vengeance on a rat?

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

9. What does Whittington slip off and do immediately after the first part of his story about Dick Whittington?

10. What book does Abby bring for Ben's reading lesson?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the danger and trials the characters go through in the novel.

1) What role do danger and trials play in Dick Whittington's life? What does danger teach him about the world?

2) What role does danger play in the animal world in the barn? Why is danger a part of life?

3) What dangers and trials do Abby and Ben face? How are the dangers they face different from those of the animals and of Dick Whittington?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how the characters in the novel learn about the world.

1) How does Dick Whittington learn about the world outside his small town? What is good and bad about the experience that Dick gains?

2) How do Ben and Abby learn about the world through their experiences, through stories, and through life in the barn?

3) How do the animals in the barn learn about the world and about life?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of family in the novel.

1) How is family different from friends in the novel? What makes up a family?

2) How do characters lose their families, and how do they build new families?

3) What role do families fill for characters? Why is family important in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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