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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 many other men are stranded with Boone and Jim in Chapter 38?

2. What does Boone do to get a goat back to Jim at the end of Chapter 38?

3. How many Indians arrive at the campsite in Chapter 26?

4. Remembering what Jim said, who mentioned the goats in the mountains that causes Boone to hunt for them?

5. What is Red Horn concerned about in Chapter 31?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which difficulties is Boone having in adapting to a civilized life with his family in Chapter 45?

2. Which things are adding to the level of anger that Boone has as he waits for Jim to return in Chapter 42?

3. How has life changed for Boone and Jim after five years have passed since Boone reconnected with Teal Eye?

4. Which guests stay at the camp with Boone and Jim in Chapter 26?

5. What trap does Boone set for Jim and Teal Eye, and what is the result of it?

6. How does Boone react to the attack in Chapter 36?

7. How does Boone use logic and resilience while hunting for goats in the mountains in Chapter 39?

8. What does Boone experience while traveling on the boat in Chapter 43?

9. What is in the letter that Jim had brought for Boone?

10. Why and how does Dick leave Boone and Jim in Chapter 25?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Big Sky ends with a conversation between Boone and Dick and an open-ended question about Boone's future.

1) Describe Boone's visit to Dick's farm at the end of the book.

2) Explain why you think Guthrie selected Dick as the character that Boone confides in.

3) Analyze the effectiveness of an uncertain ending to the story concerning Boone's plans and his aloneness.

Essay Topic 2

Boone leaves home for the second time in the book, bringing the story to a complete circle and returning it to a similar starting point.

1) Describe the interaction that Boone has with his family while he is staying with them towards the end of the story.

2) Explain what happens during the conversation between Boone and Nancy and why it is a significant part in Boone's decision to leave.

3) Compare and contrast the similarities and differences of Boone's reasons for leaving home in the beginning and the end of the story.

Essay Topic 3

Boone finds Teal Eye's tribe and is given permission to be with her according to the Indian customs and gifts that are exchanged.

1) Describe the difficulty Boone has in locating Teal Eye's tribe because of the disease that has spread.

2) Explain the customs that Boone goes through in order to acquire a life with Teal Eye.

3) Compare the way that Boone adapts to the Indian way of life with his inability to adapt to civilized life at the end of the story.

(see the answer keys)

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