Sarah, Plain and Tall

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class reviews, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. What happened to Caleb and Anna’s mother?

2. What news does Papa announce after dinner?

3. Who is Maggie?

4. What is the name of Sarah’s brother?

5. How does Sarah describe her home in Maine?

6. What gifts for the children does Sarah bring with her to the prairie?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Explain Anna’s complicated love for Caleb. How has she dealt with her grief over losing her mother?

2. What kind of father is Jacob Whiting? What are his motivations for placing the ad in the newspaper?

3. Describe Sara Wheaton’s personality. What do her letters reveal about her?

Paired Resource

“I Ask My Mother to Sing”

• This poem by Li-Young Lee describes a child’s experience listening to his mother and grandmother sing about their former home in China.
• How is the speaker’s desire to hear a parent sing similar or different to Caleb and Anna’s? What’s the relationship between singing and home (or homesickness) in the poem? Do the mother and grandmother sing to share their memories of China with the poem’s speaker, and have we seen Sarah do anything similar?

“Field and Farm”

• This brief article from Digital Public Library of America describes children’s roles on turn-of-the-century farms and features several photos depicting rural life in the early 20th century.
• Were you surprised by Anna’s household responsibilities? How much do those responsibilities reflect the absence of her mother, and how much do they reflect the realities of turn-of-the-century homesteading?

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. What does Sarah do with the shells she brought from Maine?

2. What is the first activity the children do with Sarah?

3. What does “Ayuh” mean?

4. After Sarah cuts Caleb and Jacob’s hair, what does she do with the cuttings?

5. Which animals on the farm are Sarah’s favorite and why?

6. What does Sarah include with her letters home to William?

7. How does Papa create a dune for Sarah?

8. What does Sarah teach the children to do in the cow pond?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In what ways does Sarah immediately integrate into the Whiting household?

2. Explain the different ways the children bond with Sarah.

3. Trace Sarah’s gradual growing attachment to the prairie. What aspects of life does she grow to appreciate and love?

Paired Resource

“The Flora and Fauna of the Prairie”

• This website contains information about the different plants and animals of the American prairie.
• This connects to the theme of Finding Comfort and Connection in Nature.
• What plants and animals does the book mention, and what role do they play? What is the symbolism of flowers such as the Bride’s Bonnet and the roses?

“What Did Coastal Maine Look Like in the 1800s?”

• This website explores what life in coastal Maine would have been like in the 19th century.
• This connects to the theme of Finding Comfort and Connection in Nature.
• How was Sarah’s life in Maine different from life on the prairie? How are both landscapes harsh and yet also beautiful?

Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. What gifts do Maggie and her children bring to Sarah?

2. What advice does Maggie give to Sarah?

3. What does Sarah ask Jacob to teach her?

4. What happens during the storm?

5. When Sarah leaves in the wagon, where do the children think she is going?

6. What does Sarah purchase in town?

7. What will happen in autumn?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is the significance of Maggie’s visit? What does she teach Sarah?

2. How does the author hint that Jacob and Sarah are becoming closer?

3. In what ways does Sarah assert her independence? How does she prove in these chapters that she will be a good wife to Jacob and a good mother to the children?

Recommended Next Reads 

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

• Out of the Dust is a middle grade historical fiction novel told in verse; it follows the story of one young girl as her family tries to survive the Dust Bowl.
• Out of the Dust on SuperSummary

How I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle

• Isaac, a Choctaw boy, does not survive the journey on the Trail of Tears. This novel traces the tragedies and triumphs of the human spirit amidst hardship and includes themes of friendship and resiliency.
• How I Became a Ghost on SuperSummary

Remembering Mrs. Rossi by Amy Hest

• This contemporary novel follows the story of Annie and her father as they grieve the loss of Annie’s mother. The novel explores the themes of grief and The Beauty of New Beginnings.