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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. In whose house does Celestine give birth?

2. Which company does Wallace Pfef hire as a skywriter?

3. What role does Dot have in the Christmas play?

4. With whom does Mary have a serious argument in chapter 10?

5. Who arrives at Sita's house while Sita, Karl, and Louis are eating lunch?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Celestine's opinion of Mary's cooking, as stated in chapter 11? Why does she hold this opinion?

2. How do Mary and Celestine deal with Sita's body?

3. Describe Sita's house, as pictured in chapter 13.

4. What happens between Mary and Mrs. Shumway in chapter 10?

5. Explain Mary's reaction to Celestine's Jell-O prank.

6. How does Celestine feel about the baby, Dot, in chapter 9?

7. Describe Wallace Pfef's "poor dead sweetheart."

8. Describe the setting in which Celestine gives birth.

9. Describe Wallace Pfef's experience in organizing the Beet Festival.

10. Why does Mrs. Shumway send Dot to the "naughty box" in chapter 10?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss at least three of the conflicts surrounding the Beet Festival and how they are interrelated. Support your thoughts with details that you remember from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Erdrich's sense of plot and narration in the following two scenes: when Mary has her accident in the ice and when Russell Kashpaw lights his menu on fire.

Essay Topic 3

Choose a device from the novel that propels the plot forward. How does it work? What action does it bring about? What are other possible plot lines that the device could have brought about? Explain.

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