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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 first of Willie's drawings that everyone sees on his birthday?

2. What does Tom teach Willie to do on their walk to mail the postcard?

3. What happens to Willie's desserts at the picnic?

4. Why do the country folk cover their windows at night?

5. What does WIllie discover is missing from Tom's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. Throughout Chapter 5, how does Tom show his care for Willie?

2. What might be foreshadowed by Tom dusting off the paints at the end of Chapter 2?

3. Why does Willie believe that he is a bad boy and what are the consequences of his being one?

4. How does Tom help Willie with the humiliation that he feels after his first day at school and what do the two of them discover about Willie?

5. Why is the entrance of the post-office boy suspenseful?

6. What does the reader learn about Tom as he walks through town with Willie in Chapter 2?

7. Why is Willie ashamed of himself? Should Willie be ashamed? Who has taught Willie his values and what kind of values are they?

8. What does Tom volunteer for at the meeting and how does this show growth in his character?

9. What is the meaning of the title of Chapter 4?

10. How do the townspeople react to Tom's attendance at the meeting and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why is Geoffrey brought into the novel? How does he help in the healing of Willie?

Essay Topic 2

Explain the relationship of Willie and Sammie from the time that they meet until the end of the story. How is Sammie therapy for Willie?

Essay Topic 3

Who does the author take from Willie, and why does the author have them die?

(see the answer keys)

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