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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. Why is Mr. Wheeler organizing a meeting?

2. What does Little Man tell the others about Mr. Morrison while sitting on the river bank?

3. What does Wordell do while Cassie is sick?

4. What does Stacey say about being home?

5. What happens after Miss Crocker breaks up the fight and takes Cassie to a classroom?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain what happens when the Logans arrive in Stokesville.

2. What is the significance of the song the family sings on Christmas?

3. Discuss what seems to happen between Cassie and Suzella after Cassie gets in trouble for losing her temper in school.

4. Why do you think Mrs. Lee Annie continues her pursuit of registering to vote in spite of the fact that her friends oppose the idea?

5. What are the demands of the farmers who arrived in front of the courthouse?

6. Describe what happens when the Logan's discover Stacey is gone.

7. How does the ending of the story relate the title, "Will the Circle be Unbroken?"?

8. Why do the three young men humiliate Cousin Bud? Are their actions considered hypocritical?

9. Explain why the Turners have to tear out part of their crop. Discuss why this is seen as unjust.

10. Describe the events at the union meeting held at the Wheeler's.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the story, Moe Turner expresses his opinion that a good education is the way out of sharecropping. In an essay, explain how the process of sharecropping worked. Where did it go wrong? Who had the power to solve the problem? How could they have solved the problem?

Essay Topic 2

What did you learn from the novel about pre-civil-rights history? Write an essay detailing how closely this novel portrayed what actually happened during that period in our history? Give examples from the novel.

Resources:

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/A-Lesson-Before-Dying-Critical-Essays-The-Pre-Civil-Rights-South.id-63,pageNum-58.html

http://neabigread.net/books/lessonbeforedying/teachers/LessonBeforeDyingHandout2.pdf

http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/holland/masc/xcivilrights.html

http://www.pbs.org/harrymoore/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1294360

http://www.centralhigh57.org/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/

http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/civilrightstv/

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/civilrights/index.htm

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0pro-1

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the unfair treatment of the sharecroppers and day workers in the novel. The following questions must be answered: In what ways were the sharecroppers and day workers mistreated? Who mistreated them? Why were they mistreated?

(see the answer keys)

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