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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. How did Clatoo know that Candy was lying?

2. Why do Mat and Chimley fish only in one small spot?

3. Why did people call Sully T.V.?

4. What did the men begin saying one at a time?

5. Where does Janey live?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do readers know the year this story is taking place?

2. Why did Mapes hit the men and what did it mean? When everybody lined up to be hit by Mapes, what happened?

3. Why did Gil look at Cal like he hated him?

4. Why did all the men shoot their guns once?

5. What did it mean when they saw dust on the road? What was this a symbol of?

6. Why was Gil torn between love for his family and sadness over their past actions?

7. Why was Bea unconcerned that Beau had been killed?

8. Why was it important for the author to show violence against women in the black community?

9. Why did Mapes respect Mathu?

10. Why did Candy want more men and more shotguns at Mathu's house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did each person telling their story make an impact on the story as a whole?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss man vs. machine. The tractors vs. mules. How had life on the plantation changed due to this invention?

Essay Topic 3

How did a different person narrating each chapter change the story? What would have been different if Lou Dimes had narrated all the chapters? Or Chimley. Or Candy. Or Clatoo?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 664 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample