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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do houses mean for David?

2. What does David vow never to enter, as he believes it to be dangerous?

3. What does David do that helps him not burn when he saves the girl?

4. What does David choose in Chapter Three?

5. What does the man do to surprise David?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does David force himself not to think?

2. Explain how David comes to the home of Giovanni.

3. Why was it so important for David to clean himself so thoroughly?

4. Explain why David is afraid to attempt to hitchhike.

5. Describe how David comes to own a mirror, and his reaction to his own reflection.

6. Explain the scene between David and the couple who are out of gas. Why are they suspicious, and how does David disarm them?

7. Why does David decide, as he runs during his escape, to stop running and instead to walk?

8. Explain what the man on the ship and the woman in the shop mean when they discuss David's eyes.

9. Explain what the man tells David to do to escape.

10. Explain why David plunges through the thicket instead of going around it.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the novel, the value of freedom and independent choice is a primary theme in the novel. Choose one of the following examples, and discuss it in detail. Explain not only the situation, but how the situation embodies the theme of freedom and value of independent thought.

• David's reaction to Angelo's dilemma of whom to marry

• David's decision to walk across the road on page 35.

• David's letter to Giovanni and his wife

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the book, David shows himself to be clearly different than other boys. Pick two ways in which David is different, and discuss them in depth. What are these differences? How are they depicted in the novel? What do these differences stem from? Can David overcome them, or does he need to? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel there is reference to David's eyes. This is later linked in the novel to the eyes of Edith, his mother. Explain what people see when they look into David's eyes, in terms of why they find his eyes do unique. What in David's life has led him to show the expression in his eyes that he shows? Why does his mother have the same eyes? How does the author use this to link not only their genetics, but their experiences?

(see the answer keys)

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