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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 word is a boy struggling to write when Ben first visits the special reading class?

2. How many sets of books does Coach O have for Ben to read?

3. Who leads the baby ducks around?

4. How much of the business does Sir Louis advise Dick to buy?

5. When did Will begin working for Sir Louis?

Short Essay Questions

1. What proposition does Sir Louis have for Dick?

2. What trip does Whittington say he must take?

3. What is Ben's plan to stay with his class?

4. What did Dick Whittington spend his fortune on in his last years?

5. What causes the ship to turn back after reaching Palermo?

6. What does Mary Green look like?

7. What does Ben think, when he observes the special reading lesson?

8. How does Ben react to the prospect of being sent to special ed classes?

9. What effect do the bells have on Dick as he heads down the river to try to see Mary?

10. In what way does Ben pet Whittington, and how does Whittington respond?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

Ben learns to take control of his life through his experience in the barn and the stories about Dick Whittington. Discuss the idea of taking control of your life in the novel.

1) How does Ben take control of his life? What does he have to do, and how does he have to change?

2) How does Dick Whittington take control of his life? How does Dick's example help Ben?

3) What things are in and out of the characters' control in life? What can characters take control of, and how can characters deal with things they can't control?

(see the answer keys)

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