View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How long does it take Will to return home from Appomattox?

2. How does Maimie kill herself?

3. How does Lucy feel about where Will wants to take Ned?

4. What musical instrument does Unison play?

5. What advice does a woman in the train station give to Lucy?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Baby try to re-pay her mother for swallowing the diamond ring?

2. What story does Lady Marsden ask Cassie to tell as they wait for Sherman's troops to arrive?

3. How do Lucy's children feel about Cassie in their lives?

4. How does the author use foreshadowing regarding Ned in this section?

5. Describe how Cassie and her family members were taken aboard the big boat in Africa.

6. How does the author show that Lucy is weary of Will's war stories?

7. Who is Maimie L. Beech?

8. What role does Will have in the annual parade of the Daughters of the Confederacy in Raleigh?

9. What is significant about the diamond ring that Baby swallowed?

10. What does Lucy do when she learns that Ned has been blinded in a hunting accident?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the point of view of the novel? Why did Gurganus choose to write the story from this perspective? What are the benefits and the limitations to this particular point of view?

Essay Topic 2

Explain the role of women in the early to mid 20th century when Lucy is living her life. How did women's roles evolve? What precedents did they feel compelled to follow? What restrictions did they have? What freedoms did they have that 21st century women do not?

Essay Topic 3

The author uses more than one iteration on the theme of struggle. Identify at least two instances about struggle in the story and then cite examples to support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 995 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample