View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What animal tries to attack the Lady while she is bathing?

2. Who names the baby goat?

3. Who attacks Dick's cat, after he kills the Great Rat?

4. What do the kittens drink after their mother goes missing?

5. What does Don offer to do if Ben will sit in on a special ed reading class?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why is Dick's cat allowed to come home to Dick?

3. What happens to Gent when autumn arrives?

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

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

6. What trip does Whittington say he must take?

7. What does the cat's former owner say when Dick Whittington offers to share his fortune?

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

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

10. What does Mary Green look like?

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 kindness in the novel and how characters give help to each other.

1) What affects does Bernie's kindness have on the other characters?

2) What role does kindness and help play in Dick Whittington's life and success? How does Dick show kindness and help to others?

3) What kindness and help does Ben receive in his struggle to learn to read? How does he react to kindness and help?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 825 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample