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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 is the first thing the Lady says when she finally arises from her sleeping place?

2. Who saves the kittens trapped by the cord?

3. Who leads the baby ducks around?

4. Who steps in to help care for Theo?

5. Who helps Whittington train his children in the autumn?

Short Essay Questions

1. What women does the book Sir Louis gives Dick say are the most beautiful in the world?

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

3. Why does Don think the special ed reading program might be good for Ben?

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

5. What does Dick do in memory of his cat after the cat disappears?

6. How did Mary's husband die?

7. After Ben talks to the animals in the barn about what his reading lessons were like, what do they all do?

8. What does Mary Green look like?

9. What does the tabby from down the road bring to the barn?

10. What trip does Whittington say he must take?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The characters' heritage and ancestors are part of what makes them who they are. Discuss heritage in the novel.

1) What is Whittington's relationship to Dick Whittington? Why is his ancestry important to him? What does he gain from his heritage?

2) What do the other animals in the barn inherit from their ancestors? Why is history and heritage important to them?

3) What is Abby and Ben's heritage? What do they gain from their grandparents?

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

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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