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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 the teacher ask Janey about the horned toad?

2. What is a swamper?

3. What is waiting for Janey inside the new house?

4. What does the sign inside the doctor's office say?

5. Who used to live in the house the Larkins are moving into?

Short Essay Questions

1. What disease is Mom diagnosed as having?

2. What is Janey's reasoning for gauging the teacher by how the teacher reacts to the horned toad?

3. What does the eucalyptus tree job mean for the Larkin family?

4. What does the large pile of firewood at the house signify for Janey?

5. How do the Larkins spend the money won in the cotton picking contest?

6. Why does Janey go to the Anderson house prior to the Larkin family's leaving the area and what does she learn from Mr. Anderson regarding her willow plate?

7. What does Janey note about the differences in her parents and she relates to each of them?

8. Who all participates in Mrs. Larkin's care?

9. How is the family relieved as Mom's condition continues to improve?

10. Explain what Janey knows about the Camp School.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the role of women in America during the Great Depression. What precedents do these women feel compelled to follow? What restrictions do they have? What freedoms did they have that 21st century women do not have? How were their lives significantly more difficult than the lives of 21st century women?

Essay Topic 2

Create a brief character study of Mrs. Larkin. What did she look like? What were her positive personality traits? What were her dreams and fears? What was most valuable to her in her world?

Essay Topic 3

The author uses more than one iteration on the theme of struggle. Identify at least two instances about struggle in the book and then cite examples to support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,266 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample