The Overstory Quizzes

The Overstory Quiz 1

1 Who is the woman sitting at the tree at the beginning of the story?
Olivia

Mimi

Dorothy

Patricia
2 What tree does Jorgen Hoel plant on his farm?
A chestnut

A mulberry

A maple

An aspen
3 The Hoel tree is captured via ___________ for more than a century.
letters

diary entries

photography

drawing
4 Nicholas Hoel is a/an
lawyer

engineer

activist

artist
5 Ma Sih Hsuin brings a precious ________ to America.
poem

necklace

scroll

photograph
6 Why does Mimi's father commit suicide?
He cannot invent the device he wants to

His wife has died

He has lost his job

He is distressed over the dying tree
7 As a child Adam is all of the following except
interested in trees and insects

beloved by his parents and siblings

fond of his maple tree

a little "socially retarded"
8 Adam goes to college to study
psychology

economics

engineering

botany
9 What kind of lawyer is Ray Brinkman?
Intellectual Property

Personal Injury

Constitutional

Corporate
10 Ray and Dorothy's first date leads them into
painting

new jobs

sports

acting
11 In the Stanford Prison Experiment, Douglas
asks to leave

is a vicious guard

has a breakdown

keeps his cool
12 During the Vietnam War, all of the following happen to Douglas except
he wants to stay in Thailand

he is saved by a banyan tree

he flies planes

he relishes killing the Viet Cong
13 After the war, Douglas takes a job
in politics

planting seedlings

as a scientist

for a logging company
14 Why does Neelay get so angry at Ms. Gilpin?
She gives him a bad grade

She insults him

She takes his notebook

She used a racial slur
15 What does the oak tree do to Neelay?
Push him out

Talk to him

Save him

Sing to him
16 Neelay grows famous for designing
AIs

games

applications

websites
17 What literary work is so influential to Patricia?
The Iliad

The Metamorphoses

The Odyssey

The Aneid
18 All of the following are true about Patricia's time in college except
her professors say old growth is bad

she drops out to pursue her own studies

she determines which gases the trees breathe out

she believes that trees are social creatures
19 What happens after Patricia's paper is published?
She loses her lectureship

It is criticized by leading dendrologists

It is initially lauded

All of these
20 How does Patricia deal with her losses?
She gets work with the Bureau of Land Management

She considers suicide

She visits the old growth forests

All of these
21 From two researchers in the forest, what does Patricia learn about her work?
It has been harshly criticized

It has been semi-validated

It has been validated

It has faded into oblivion
22 When Olivia gets high, she
connects with humanity

talks to the trees

accidentally dies

commits suicide
23 The beings of light do all the following to/for Olivia except
tell her to write about them

tell her she has a purpose

move her to tears of joy

guide her to Solace
24 Why is Dorothy so depressed in her marriage?
They are poor

She is not a good actress

Ray is cheating on her

She cannot have a child
25 Who does Olivia meet on her initial westward drive?
Patricia

Mimi

Douglas

Nick

Study Guide for The Overstory

The Overstory study guide contains a biography of Richard Powers, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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The Overstory

by Richard Powers

The Overstory Quiz 1

The Overstory Questions and Answers

Study Guide for The Overstory

Lesson Plan for The Overstory