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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do the "strange names" (8) talked about at the family dinner party allude to?
(a) They are the locations of World War I battles.
(b) They are the neighbor families who have lost children in World War I.
(c) They are the places that the family plans to travel in Europe.
(d) They are the names of family members buried in the family graveyard.

2. What do Doodle and Brother do to pass the time when they are out and need to stop walking so that Doodle can rest?
(a) They imagine their future together.
(b) They practice throwing a ball.
(c) They take turns reading to each other.
(d) They make up stories.

3. What causes Brother to say that Doodle is a "burden in many ways" (3)?
(a) Doodle talks almost all the time.
(b) The doctor has made a long list of rules for taking care of Doodle.
(c) Doodle is getting too heavy for Brother to pull in the cart.
(d) Brother's friends make fun of Doodle.

4. What is Doodle's real name?
(a) It is never given.
(b) James Hurst.
(c) William Armstrong.
(d) Robert Graves.

5. What is the first problem the family's crops have in the year that Brother is training Doodle?
(a) Frost.
(b) Insects.
(c) Floods.
(d) Drought.

6. Where do Doodle and Brother imagine living when they are older?
(a) In a treehouse.
(b) Old Woman Swamp.
(c) New York City.
(d) In a houseboat.

7. What evidence is there that Brother is pushing Doodle too hard?
(a) Doodle talks less and seems confused at times.
(b) Doodle begins to have nose bleeds.
(c) Doodle becomes feverish and has nightmares.
(d) Doodle begins to have trouble breathing.

8. What is "Doodle" short for?
(a) Nothing--it refers to a drawing Doodle did.
(b) Yankee Doodle.
(c) Cock-a-doodle-doo.
(d) Doodlebug.

9. When Doodle first begins to move, how does Mama feel?
(a) Puzzled.
(b) Apathetic.
(c) Anxious.
(d) Overjoyed.

10. When, on page 8, Brother says that they kept working with "doggedness," what does he mean?
(a) They worked with determination and persistence.
(b) They worked slowly and methodically.
(c) They worked beyond the point that is reasonable.
(d) They worked playfully and happily.

11. What literary techniques are shown in the phrase, "[I]t lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers" (9)?
(a) Symbolism, flashback, and euphemism.
(b) Imagery, foreshadowing, and simile.
(c) Imagery, metaphor, and allegory.
(d) Metaphor, allusion, and symbolism.

12. What deadline do Doodle and Brother set for Doodle's physical training?
(a) They want to be done by Christmas.
(b) They want to be done by the time Doodle starts school.
(c) They want to be done by Doodle's seventh birthday.
(d) They want to be done by springtime.

13. What does the reader learn about Doodle from his story about Peter?
(a) Doodle is frightened of going to school.
(b) Doodle has a vivid imagination.
(c) Doodle secretly hates Brother.
(d) Doodle is much smarter than Brother.

14. What is an "ibis"?
(a) A fish.
(b) A type of tree.
(c) A flower.
(d) A bird.

15. When Doodle smiles at Brother for the first time, how does Brother feel?
(a) Sad and angry.
(b) Happy and excited.
(c) Suspicious and numb.
(d) Confused and worried.

Short Answer Questions

1. When the family sees Doodle struggling to bury the ibis, what is their response?

2. When Brother finally decides to treat Doodle like a brother, where does he take him for the first time?

3. What is the "caul" that Doodle is born with?

4. When Brother picks Doodle up, trying to teach him to walk, and Doodle falls to the ground, what does Doodle say?

5. Why does Mama make Brother return to the table when he is trying to get outside to see the ibis?

(see the answer keys)

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