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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. What repair does Bernie say the principal's car needs, after his inspection of the car?

3. Whose life does the book Sir Louis wants Dick to read recount?

4. Who primarily trades with the East for rhubarb?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does the Lady say to the other animals after the attack by the predator?

3. What happens to Gent when autumn arrives?

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

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

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

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

8. How did Mary's husband die?

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

10. How does Bernie react to finding the new animals in the barn after the livestock auction?

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 illness and injury in the novel.

1) How do the characters deal with illness in the novel? What ways do characters try to combat or prevent illness or injury?

2) What causes illness? To what extent is illness something that can be controlled?

3) How do characters help each other when they are ill or injured? What do experiences with illness or injury say about the characters' relationships?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the relationships between parents and children in the novel.

1) How do Ben and Abby suffer from not having their parents to care for them? How do their grandparents take the place of parents in their lives?

2) How is Dick's life affected by being separated from his parents as a young child? What characters act as parents to Dick?

3) What are the animals' relationships with their parents in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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