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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 is the meaning of the red flag planted on the land by the regulators?

2. How does Granpa help Little Tree understand the seriousness of spending the money on the calf?

3. In the incident with the two men from Chattanooga, how does Little Tree demonstrate that he is becoming clever and less trusting?

4. Why does the author include the special relationship between Mr. Wine and Little Tree's family in the story?

5. How does Mr. Wine's death shed light on the previous incident in which he prays and then walks away without acknowledging Little Tree's gratitude for the yellow coat?

Short Essay Questions

1. How and why does Granpa's approach to people in church who are badly off differ from the approach of others?

2. What are the main purposes served by the incident in which Granpa is bitten by the rattlesnake?

3. In what way does the title of Chapter 18 foreshadow the events that occur in it?

4. Give a brief summary of the events related by Granpa that lead to Little Tree's return from the orphanage.

5. Write a short character sketch of Mr. Wine and summarize his role in the story.

6. How does Little Tree's love of nature help him through the misery he feels at the orphanage?

7. What examples of prejudice and misunderstanding does Little Tree encounter at the orphanage?

8. Give an example from Chapter 12 of how well the author uses vivid description to convey a picture of Spring to the reader.

9. What are the author's reasons for introducing the sharecropper and his daughter to the reader?

10. Identify two specific lessons that Little Tree learns from his family and that are reinforced by Mr. Wine.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The episodes in the novel that have to do with the church and church-going present Little Tree and the reader with instances of hypocrisy and contradiction associated with Christianity. Referring closely to important incidents in the novel, discuss the author's exploration of hypocrisy and contradictions in the behavior of representatives of Christianity.

Essay Topic 2

In the introduction to the re-issuing of "The Education of Little Tree", the University of New Mexico Press includes the following statement: 'Little Tree is one of those rare books like Huck Finn that each new generation needs to discover and which needs to be read and reread regularly...a fine and sustaining book, wonderfully funny and deeply poignant'.

With special reference to this statement and using detailed references to the text, write a critical analysis of the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Chapter titles in this novel play a significant role in shaping the expectations of the reader or ironically commenting on the contents of the chapter. Select any four chapters whose titles you consider to be particularly significant and discuss the extent to which these titles shape the reader's expectations or ironically comment on the contents of these chapters.

(see the answer keys)

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