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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. Who turns the crank on the cream separator?

2. What was Mother saying as she rubbed Father's shoulders on the day Eldon sees them behind the barn?

3. How does the family dog spend most of its time?

4. What kind of shoes is Eldon wearing on the morning he slipped outside to watch Father leaving for the fields?

5. How much does Father say the horses weigh?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. Describe how Father pulls stumps out of the ground.

4. Who is Rex? What does he do around the farm? Why is he allowed to do that job?

5. What is the first thing Eldon describes doing after the first snow?

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

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

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

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

10. What are the roles and the attitudes of Uncle David and Nels about the killing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are some of the fun activities Eldon describes? Do those sound like fun?

Essay Topic 2

What is the story Uncle David tells about Orud and Melena? What kind of story is this and why? Are there any believable aspects of the story? What are they?

Essay Topic 3

Why do you believe the author presented the story in first-person? Were there other alternatives? What major aspects of the story would have changed if the author had changed the perspective?

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This section contains 952 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample