O Pioneers!

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following best explains why the farms of Hanover, Nebraska, initially fail?

A) The land is too difficult to farm.

B) Many of the farmers don’t know how to farm the land well.

C) The farmers find better-paying jobs in other towns.

D) The debts placed on the farmers are crippling.

2. Why does John name Alexandra as his successor?

A) Alexandra will be able to find a husband who will help build the farm.

B) John loves Alexandra the most out of his children.

C) Alexandra is the most imaginative and committed of his children.

D) John doesn’t believe in his sons.

3. Why doesn’t Alexandra want to buy farmland closer to the river?

A) Alexandra believes in her father’s land.

B) Alexandra doesn’t believe the wealthy river farm owners will sell their land.

C) Alexandra doesn’t think the river farms are better situated than her own.

D) All of the above

4. What or whom does the novel juxtapose with the struggle that Alexandra experiences in her youth?

A) Oscar and Lou’s dreams of moving away

B) Marie’s beauty

C) Emil’s innocence

D) Alexandra’s mother’s garden

5. Where is Alexandra’s family from?

A) Norway

B) Germany

C) Bohemia

D) Sweden

6. What does Alexandra defend Ivar against?

A) Institutionalization

B) His relatives

C) Xenophobia

D) Prison

7. Which of the following themes dominates Part 2?

A) Respect the Power of the Land

B) Sacrifice of Self for the Good of the Community

C) Loneliness Is a Double-Edged Sword