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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. In the place name "Horsehead Landing," what does the word "landing" mean?

2. What does Doodle say when Brother tells him he is going to teach him to walk?

3. Where do Doodle and Brother imagine living when they are older?

4. What is Doodle's real name?

5. What does the doctor say about Doodle trying to move around?

Short Essay Questions

1. How old is Doodle when he learns to walk, and why is his age relevant to him learning to walk?

2. What future do "Brother" and Doodle imagine for themselves at Old Woman Sawmp?

3. What do Doodle and "Brother" do with the flowers at Old Woman Swamp?

4. When school is getting closer, at the end of the summer, how is Doodle doing with his physical training, and what is the result?

5. When the family get excited and try to hug "Brother" for teaching Doodle to walk, how does "Brother" react, and why?

6. What changes in Doodle's living situation when he learns to crawl?

7. Toward the end of summer, how does "Brother" say that he and Doodle are feeling about the training, and why do they keep going?

8. Which character says "And bless the Pearsons, whose boy Joe was lost at Belleau Wood" (8) and what does this comment foreshadow?

9. When they are eating lunch on the day the ibis appears, what argument are the brothers having?

10. When Doodle learns to walk, where does the family put his cart, and why is this symbolically appropriate?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Because "Brother" narrates the story, the reader knows his motivations. But what causes Doodle to go along with what his brother wants? Write an essay that uses clear examples from the text to support your claims about what Doodle's motivations are.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you analyze the use of World War I as a background for this story. Explain how thematic motifs in this story are related to World War I and how the story is made richer by this association. Be sure to use textual evidence to support your claims, and if you use outside sources, cite them in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you analyze the importance of Doodle's birth "in a caul" (1). What does this represent to various characters, what does it represent in Western culture, and how do these representations have significance for the role that Doodle will eventually play in the family's life? Be sure to cite in MLA format any outside sources that you use, and offer textual support for your claims.

(see the answer keys)

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