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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 does Phillip realize on his trip home to Memphis?

2. What news does Mr. Carver have for Phillip?

3. What does Holly encourage Phillip to focus on in his family?

4. What kind of car does Mr. Carver drive?

5. What are some of Mr. Carver's earliest remembered adventures?

Short Essay Questions

1. While flying to Memphis in Chapter 7, Philip thinks about his course of action with his sister who he fears are planning vengeance on their father. What does Phillip want to convince the sisters to do?

2. In Chapter 11, Phillip allows Alex's car to remain in the driveway which blocks his father's car from exiting. What debate might be waging in his mind while he delays his father's departure?

3. What is Betsy's stated reason for Father not going to see Lewis Shackleford in Chapter 11? What is the real reason?

4. In Chapter 8, Betsy and Josephine have prepared a bed for Phillip in their father's study. However, Phillip does not stay. He leaves his father and sisters and returns to New York. Why does he not remain and defend his father against his sisters? Why does Phillip leave so hastily?

5. During the drive from the church to Mr. Carver's home in Chapter 8, Phillip begins thinking of what his father might do next. What things does he think are possible? Why does he believe his father might do any of them?

6. While at Sunday supper with his family at Owl Mountain in Chapter 11, Phillip sees both Clara Price and Lewis Shackleford in the dining room. How does Phillip react to both of these important people?

7. In Chapter 8, Alex, Phillip and Father pull up to the house from the church. What is happening as they arrive? Why?

8. In Chapter 10, how does Lewis Shackleford see his friend, George Carver? What traits does he admire in his friend?

9. In Chapter 7, Phillip compares the life he knows in his father's house in Memphis and his apartment in New York. How do the two residences differ? How does Phillip feel about the contents of his family home in Memphis and the contents of his apartment?

10. In Chapter 9, Phillip explains the difference between his father and Alex Mercer as an important factor in their friendship. What is this difference?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

It is unusual for a young man to be close friends with a classmate and that young man's father. Yet, Alex Mercer balances these two relationships for much of his life. On what core values and experiences are their friendships built? In what ways do they differ?

Essay Topic 2

Typically a four leaf clover is a symbol of good luck. In the novel, Phillip asks his mother for the four leaf clover pendant he sees on her dressing table. The pendant, however, does not bring luck to either Mother or Phillip. Discuss the pendant's history in the Carver family. How does the eventual recipient react to the pendent?

Essay Topic 3

In the beginning of the novel, Holly believes Phillip is obsessed with his family. As the novel continues, she changes her opinion. Phillip learns more about Holly's family, and it becomes evident that there is a strong similarity between Holly and Phillip. What is this mutual experience, and how does it better explain their relationship?

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