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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 old is Hattie when she becomes an orphan?

2. Of what does Perilee remind Hattie at the grocery store?

3. Where does Traft offer to take Hattie?

4. Why does Hattie go over to talk to Perilee?

5. Why does Leafie do when she observes who is with the cow?

Short Essay Questions

1. With what does Perilee leave Hattie as they drop her off at her new home, and what does Hattie give her in return?

2. What does Karl say Hattie needs to do about plowing, and how does Hattie feel about plowing?

3. Who helps Hattie in the field the next day and how does he respond to her thanks?

4. What does Leafie say about Traft Martin when Hattie sees Leafie at the dance?

5. What happens the next day after the dance to the Mueller's barn?

6. What surprises Hattie while she is in her cabin in the middle of a violent storm?

7. What neighbor does Hattie meet in the local grocery store and what does he tell her?

8. What happens when Perilee and the children go with Hattie to church?

9. What does Hattie write to Uncle Holt and Charlie and who mails them for her?

10. Where does Hattie go on Sunday where she has not yet been, and how is she initially greeted?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Hattie Big Sky" belongs to the teen historical fiction genre. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the fictional memoir genre.

2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.

3. What do you think is the difference between a teen historical fiction and teen fiction?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. Define irony in literary terms. Discuss the irony of the situation of how Hattie prays for divine intervention after the hailstorm destroys her crops but most would consider a hail storm an "act of God." What other situations contain irony in "Hattie Big Sky"?

2. Define symbolism in literary terms. Discuss the use and meaning of five symbols you choose to analyze from the story. What do they symbolize? Is the symbolism obvious? Effective? Does the symbolism contribute to the enjoyment of reading?

3. Discuss five literary devices that occur in "Hattie Big Sky" and how they are used. Are they effective? Do they add or detract from the reading of the book? Why or why not. Some possible techniques: Allusion, connotation, denouement, dialogue, flashback, figurative language, motif, metaphor, narrator, point of view, simile, mood, and puns.

Essay Topic 3

Understanding the setting, both the place and time, helps the reader to enjoy a novel. Discuss the following:

1. Research Montana of the early 20th century, and then write an informative essay about the social and geographical aspects.

2. Research the treatment of German nationals and immigrants in the United States during WWI, and then write an informative essay about what you learn. Compare the information to what you read in "Hattie Big Sky".

3. Compare/contrast the life of someone in the early 20th century with that of a young person today.

(see the answer keys)

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