View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following body parts did Rawlings break when she fell from a horse and required a steel brace?

2. Which of the following adjectives best described Cross Creek?

3. How many black families lived in Rawlings's neighborhood in Cross Creek.

4. What did Moe Sykes do for a living?

5. What was the name of Rawlings's dog that was sent back to the city after failing miserably at farm life?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Rawlings come to live in Cross Creek?

2. Who were the Townsends, and what was Rawlings's relationship to them?

3. How did Rawlings describe the woman playing piano that she met while taking census information with Zelda?

4. What types of physical maladies were the Slaters suffering from, and why weren't there maladies being treated?

5. How did Rawlings help Snow Slater after he was abandoned by his family?

6. Who was Tim, and why did he leave Rawlings's property?

7. How did Rawlings's uncle help her with her outhouse?

8. How did Rawlings acquire the antique bed in her house?

9. How did Rawlings become involved in the Townsend children's education?

10. After she left Rawlings's home for the first time, what type of working relationship did Geechee have with the farm?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of the memoir, Rawlings struggles to come to terms with the idea of land ownership. First, describe what Rawlings believes is the responsibility of an owner to their land. Do you think Rawlings embodied these responsibilities? Then, explain who or what Rawlings believes is the true owner of land. In Rawlings's opinion, who owns Cross Creek? Do you agree with her?

Essay Topic 2

Although Rawlings often claims to love her servants and to treat them with respect, she often speaks about them, and even to them, in a profoundly racist way. First, describe Rawlings's stance on racism in Cross Creek. What does she blame racism on? Then, describe at least two examples of times when Rawlings regarded her servants in a racist way. What was the reaction from the staff to this treatment? As a reader, what was your reaction to Rawlings's racist statements? Would you consider Rawlings to be a hypocrite?

Essay Topic 3

When the memoir first opens, Rawlings spends a lot of time discussing the land of Cross Creek and her relationship to it. First, describe the land as Rawlings did in the opening of the memoir. What were your first impressions of the land? Did Rawlings's first impression of Cross Creek remain the same for the duration of the memoir?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 995 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample