45 pages • 1 hour read
Boys And Girls
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Quiz
Reading Check, Multiple Choice & Short Answer Quizzes
Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.
Reading Check
1. Why does the narrator’s mother dislike the family fox business? (Paragraph 2)
2. Despite naming the foxes, why does the narrator not see the foxes as pets? (Paragraph 9)
3. How does the narrator feel about seeing her mother by the barn? (Paragraph 15)
4. What does the narrator not consider as a reason for her mother wanting to keep her in the house? (Paragraph 17)
5. In a memory, what did the narrator do to her brother for the purpose of having a story? (Paragraph 37)
6. What does the narrator do as Flora runs to the gate? (Paragraph 48)
Multiple Choice
1. At around what time of the year does the narrator’s father begin preparing for skinning the foxes? (Paragraph 2)
A) summertime
B) just before autumn begins
C) a few weeks before Christmas
D) during the rainy season
2. What kind of stories does the narrator tell herself when she goes to bed? (Paragraph 6)
A) She imagines herself in precarious situations in the future.
B) She reimagines stories from her past.
C) She imagines faraway places with fantastical creatures.
D) She repeats stories she reads in school.
3. Why does the narrator dislike helping her mother in the kitchen? (Paragraph 13)
A) The narrator does not like the silly conversations her mother engages her in.
B) The narrator hates the smell of the food she helps her mother cook.
C) The narrator misses the importance of the work she does outside with her father.
D) The narrator thinks the kitchen is spooky and dark.
4. What major theme do other people keep bringing up with the narrator? (Paragraph 21)
A) Other people talk to her about being a girl.
B) Other people talk to her about the dangers of farm life.
C) Other people talk to her about the problems between her parents.
D) Other people talk to her about being a good role model for her younger brother.
5. What does the narrator secretly help her brother witness? (Paragraph 35)
A) the escape of one of the horses
B) the skinning of the foxes
C) the shooting of the foxes
D) the shooting of one of the horses
6. Why does the narrator feel guilty about helping Flora escape? (Paragraph 50)
A) She knows the family needs the horse to feed the foxes.
B) She knows her father will now have to spend many hours looking for the horse.
C) She knows that her father will no longer trust her.
D) all of the above
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What does the narrator’s fear of her house highlight about her love for the barn? (Paragraph 4)
2. What do the nighttime stories the narrator tells herself reveal about her character? (Paragraph 6)
3. How does the narrator’s relationship with each of her parents differ? (Paragraph 10)
4. What does the narrator understand about the ways in which people encourage her to act like a girl? (Paragraph 21)
5. How does the narrator take care of her brother after watching the horse shooting, and what does this reveal about her character? (Paragraph 41)
6. What effect does her father labeling her as “only a girl” have on the narrator? (Paragraphs 64-65)
Quizzes – Answer Key
Reading Check
1. The narrator’s mother dislikes the family fox business because it is steeped in blood and bad odors that permeate the house. (Paragraph 2)
2. Even though the narrator helps name the foxes, they are not pets in her eyes because she knows how dangerous they can be. Her father has been bitten by them twice, his blood poisoned by the bite. (Paragraph 9)
3. The narrator feels that her mother has no business being near the barn, interrupting the narrator’s father’s work or space. (Paragraph 15)
4. The narrator does not consider that her mother could be lonely in the house while everyone else is out on the farm. (Paragraph 17)
5. In a memory, the narrator recalls convincing her brother to climb too high to the tallest beams in the barn, then calling for her parents in a frenzy. (Paragraph 37)
6. Instead of closing the gates on Flora, the narrator opens the door for Flora to run away. (Paragraph 48)
Multiple Choice
1. C (Paragraph 2)
2. A (Paragraph 6)
3. C (Paragraph 13)
4. A (Paragraph 21)
5. D (Paragraph 35)
6. D (Paragraph 50)
Short-Answer Response
1. The narrator’s house is unfinished, so she and her brother are spooked by the lights and sounds. She finds the house foreboding, creepy, and a little scary. This highlights her love for the barn and the outdoors, where her environment is beautiful, reliable, and overseen by her father. This is slightly ironic, as her job outside the house is to help with the family fox business, which is gruesome and would scare most children. (Paragraph 4)
2. The narrator’s nighttime stories feature herself in precarious situations in which she is the hero. This emphasizes her adventurous spirit. Her imagination shows her to be a girl who cares more about strength, speed, and power than what might be typically thought of as appropriate fantasies for girls. (Paragraph 6)
3. The narrator’s mother is chatty and likes to tell her daughter stories about her past. But the narrator’s father is withdrawn and private. Though her mother is more accessible, the narrator respects her father’s reticence more, and is proud that a quiet man would trust her with the work of his farm instead of with his stories. (Paragraph 10)
4. The narrator is often confused by the fixation other people have on their desire for her to act like a girl. She understands “girlhood” as something she will grow into, and also as a joke that people use against her when she doesn’t succeed. (Paragraph 21)
5. After she sneaks her brother in to watch their father shoot a horse, the narrator feels bad for her brother and worries that he will have nightmares. She also worries that he will tell their parents about it all. So she takes him into town to watch a movie. This demonstrates both her leadership and her guilt. She is aware of her role as older sister and is affectionate with her brother. She makes a friend out of him, even though she worries that he will turn against her. (Paragraph 41)
6. When her father calls her “only a girl,” the narrator feels resigned and embarrassed. She internalizes this comment and doesn’t protest. She figures that if he says it, it maybe is true; she reasons that her behavior, strange to herself, is a product of being the girl she is growing into. (Paragraphs 64-65)
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