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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 time do Bernie, Abby, and Ben get up in the mornings to care for the horses?

2. What did Whitington's former family call him?

3. What is the rat who crawls out during Whittington's story trying to get?

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

5. What color do the finches turn as spring approaches?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when the owl encounters Ben, Abby, Whittington, and the Lady?

2. In the fable the Lady tells, what does the rat save the lion from?

3. What is the livery of Fitzwarren's guild?

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

5. How does the black hen act when Bernie examines her?

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

7. How was Whittington separated from his boy?

8. How does Ben react when Gran gives him something to read?

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

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

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

Grief and loss are important issues that the characters in the novel face. Discuss grief and loss.

1) How do Ben and Abby deal with their grief over the loss of their mother and father? How do they react to loss and how does loss affect them?

2) How does Dick Whittington react to loss, including the losses from the plague, his sense of loss of his home, the loss of Mary, and the loss of his cat? How does loss affect him?

3) How do other characters, including the Lady and Whittington, deal with loss?

Essay Topic 3

The central characters of the novel are animals. Discuss this aspect of the story.

1) How are the animal characters in the novel similar to human beings? How are they non-human?

2) Why does the author choose talking animals as central characters? What do these animals show the reader about humanity and life as a human?

3) How is Dick Whittington's cat portrayed differently than the other animal characters? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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