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. When did Will begin working for Sir Louis?

2. How much does Al spend at the livestock auction?

3. Where does Ben go to announce he will move forward with his class?

4. Who does Whittington plan to take with him on his trip?

5. As spring comes on, how many eggs do the chickens lay per day?

Short Essay Questions

1. After Ben talks to the animals in the barn about what his reading lessons were like, what do they all do?

2. What does Dick do in memory of his cat after the cat disappears?

3. How does Ben react to the prospect of being sent to special ed classes?

4. What happens to Gent when autumn arrives?

5. Why is Dick's cat allowed to come home to Dick?

6. How does Bernie react to finding the new animals in the barn after the livestock auction?

7. Why does Don think the special ed reading program might be good for Ben?

8. What advice does Bernie tell Ben that the principal gave?

9. What is Ben's plan to stay with his class?

10. What causes the ship to turn back after reaching Palermo?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the role of family in the novel.

1) How is family different from friends in the novel? What makes up a family?

2) How do characters lose their families, and how do they build new families?

3) What role do families fill for characters? Why is family important in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Grief and loss are important issues that the characters in the novel face. Discuss grief and loss.

1) How do Ben and Abby deal with their grief over the loss of their mother and father? How do they react to loss and how does loss affect them?

2) How does Dick Whittington react to loss, including the losses from the plague, his sense of loss of his home, the loss of Mary, and the loss of his cat? How does loss affect him?

3) How do other characters, including the Lady and Whittington, deal with loss?

Essay Topic 3

Ben learns to take control of his life through his experience in the barn and the stories about Dick Whittington. Discuss the idea of taking control of your life in the novel.

1) How does Ben take control of his life? What does he have to do, and how does he have to change?

2) How does Dick Whittington take control of his life? How does Dick's example help Ben?

3) What things are in and out of the characters' control in life? What can characters take control of, and how can characters deal with things they can't control?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 833 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample