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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 did Lyman ask John for a ride to town in Chapter 6?

2. What does Sandy say is the reason Edith and Lyman never left the family farm?

3. What did John want to do because Roy made Edith so miserable?

4. What did Roy not allow Lyman to do on the farm?

5. What was the name of the local hardware store?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Roy try to manipulate his daughter into refusing John's proposal?

2. Why did John suspect that the barbed wire may be Roy's and not his own?

3. Why did John and Sandy take Lyman to the train station in Chapter 6?

4. How did Ada and Roy come to live in Colorado?

5. What did the doctor do to help Roy, and what was the lasting effect of his accident?

6. Who did John meet and marry after Edith refused his proposal?

7. How is Roy Goodnough described in the first three chapters of the book?

8. Why did Edith decide not to marry John?

9. What did Wenzel Gerdts tell John about Lyman?

10. What happened to Ada in 1914, and how did Roy seem to feel about it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author of the novel "The Tie That Binds." What other works is Haruf known for? How do his other novels compare to "The Tie That Binds" in term of tone and style?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the motif of duty. Who does the protagonist feel dutiful towards, and why? Did Lyman feel dutiful towards anyone? How does Edith's sense of duty affect her path in life?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the motif of family in the novel "The Tie That Binds." Discuss the Goodnoughs and the Roscoes. Are these families functional? Why or why not? What are some examples of familial relations?

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