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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 went to Charles's funeral?

2. What did Rick and Uncle Ed both acknowledge early on about Rick's future?

3. What did Aunt Gracie tell the children that the chicken was that was cooking?

4. What did the redbird do that makes Rick question life?

5. How did Charles feel about going to Korea to kill soldiers?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of a woman was Rick's grandmother?

2. How did Rick react to his father's death?

3. What was Margaret's family like growing up?

4. What were some of the stories that Rick would tell in the book that he had covered as a reporter?

5. What happened when Rick went to visit his father for the last time?

6. How poor was Margaret while raising her small children?

7. How did false pride become an obstacle for Rick as a teenager?

8. What kind of work did the boys do for their Uncle Ed? What did Rick learn from this work? What did Sam learn from this work?

9. What did Rick experience at the Protestant Church that he attended when he is young?

10. What kind of an extended family does Rick have?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare the three brothers. How do their differences affect the choices that they make in life?

Essay Topic 2

Compare Rick and his brothers to an average American household. How were the boys the same as others? How were they different? Mention not only material items but how they thought about themselves and how others thought about them.

Essay Topic 3

Explain the quote found on page 98: "But what really kills you on that other side are the people--the smiling, care-free people--who can just as easily look over into your side, and turn their face away." Explain it in terms of the memoir and the truism in life.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,008 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample