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| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What constituted Janisse's and her brothers' very favorite game within the junkyard?
2. Janisse uses a quote from which novel to begin Chapter 3, Shame?
3. What job did Janisse's great-grandfather Pun have that she sees as having wreaked havoc on the longleaf pine forests?
4. In what year was Janisse born?
5. On the outskirts of what town is the junkyard where Janisse spent her childhood?
Short Essay Questions
1. After explaining that "Ninety-eight percent of the presettlement longleaf pine barrents in the southeastern coastal plains were lost by 1986" (16), Janisse writes that she did not know about this loss as a child. However, she states, "But it is a loss that as an adult shadows every step I take" (16). What does she mean?
2. What is the author's purpose in relating the fact that her parents told their children false stories about their births?
3. Why do people call certain parts of the wood of the longleaf pine "fat-lightered"?
4. What are some ways in which Janisse shows her parents that she is a tomboy who likes to be outside in nature more than she enjoys any other activities?
5. What happened during one of the Ray family's only vacations that highlighted the fact that they were a subject of fascination for others?
6. How does Janisse Ray use her great-grandfather Pun's career progression to show how white-collar jobs can be even more damaging to the environment than can blue-collar jobs?
7. When Janisse wrote that her father Frank was a "mechanic in the word's truest sense," what did she mean?
8. Besides the fact that he thought it had better prices than other stores, why did Frank shop at Winn-Dixie?
9. Why were the conditions so favorable for Frank's junkyard business to make money?
10. Due to their parents' religious beliefs and their resulting family rules, what were some of the practices forbidden to Janisse and her siblings?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
In the chapter entitled Light, Janisse Ray uses white space to surround the words "Evolve. Adapt. Survive." What is her purpose for setting these words apart from the rest of the text and how do these words relate to the many themes displayed within her memoir?
Essay Topic 2
Explain the structure the author uses to construct Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and discuss what her purpose is for structuring the memoir as she does. What advantages does it give her and how does it align with the messages she is trying to get across to the reader?
Essay Topic 3
Discuss the irony within the scene in which Janisse brings home a botanist from college and he is so shocked by the state of the family's home and property that he locks himself in the bedroom, only coming out for meals. How does his disgust regarding Janisse's family home reflect what Janisse perceives to be the pervading reaction of the outside world when looking at people from her part of the country? And how does Janisse's father Frank's job as a salvage yard owner contrast with the botanist's view of the disarray he views as defining the family's situation?
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This section contains 1,438 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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