View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Wayne want to do when he grows up?
(a) Be a farmer.
(b) Play professional baseball.
(c) Teach school.
(d) Be a professional writer.

2. What was Wayne's injury from that fight in "Winter?"
(a) A black eye.
(b) A swollen ear.
(c) A bloody nose.
(d) several bruises.

3. What are the books Uncle David sometimes reads at the kitchen table at night?
(a) Old Farmer's Almanacs.
(b) No one knows.
(c) Western novels.
(d) A Bible and an encyclopedia.

4. What had Wayne once made wings out of in an attempt to fly?
(a) Several old kites.
(b) Pillow cases and cane poles.
(c) A broom handle and a sheet.
(d) Sticks and feed sacks.

5. How many cleared acres are there on the family's farm?
(a) Ninety.
(b) Eighty-seven.
(c) One hundred twenty.
(d) Forty.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does the family dog sleep as fall comes to an end?

2. Why does Eldon say the silo is filled with corn?

3. Why do Mother and Father let Eldon and Wayne jump into the straw pile for hours at a time?

4. Uncle David says summer is close to fall, and spring is close to summer. To what season is winter close?

5. How old is the farm where the family lives?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Uncle David believe everyone works so much harder in the summer than in the winter?

2. What does Mother say about Jerseys and Holsteins?

3. Why is the lake called Jenny's Lake and what does Eldon say about it?

4. Describe what happens when Eldon and Mother take Father's lunch to the fields.

5. Describe Eldon's childhood illness and the effect it has had on his life.

6. What prompts the fight between Eldon and Wayne in the opening paragraphs of "Winter," and what do the boys decide about their argument?

7. Why do the seagulls come to the field? What does Eldon think about them?

8. What are some of the smells Eldon describes in the opening chapter called "Tuning?"

9. When does Father take the plow shares in to be sharpened? Why does he do it then, and why does Eldon like to go along?

10. Describe the haying process.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,012 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample