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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. The woman recalls attending a vigil outside of what kind of establishment a few months before the road trip?

2. From what state does the family at the center of the narrative depart at the beginning of the novel?

3. Which member of the family at the narrative's center identifies as a "documentarist" (98)?

4. As the family crosses Memphis, they play the song entitled "Graceland" by what musician?

5. The woman realizes at one point that the boy and girl use the term "lost children" (74) to refer to whom?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how Luiselli uses the theme of appearance versus reality to characterize the notion of romantic partnership.

2. What warrior name does each member of the family take on and who begins the process?

3. Compare and contrast the woman's response to the boy's angry outbursts with the man's reaction.

4. In what way does Luiselli use the traditional notion of the American Dream to comment on the reasons refugees from the Northern Triangle leave their homes?

5. How does the man reply when the boy asks him why he has chosen the Apache tribe as the subject of his newest project?

6. Describe the circumstances that led to the formation of the family at the center of Lost Children Archive.

7. How does the woman define documentation for the boy?

8. While the man wants the road trip to end in Arizona, the woman wants to visit what state so that she can pursue her own next project?

9. What sort of text is included within the man's Box III that is not included within the woman's box?

10. What "superstitious impulse" (68) is the woman always unable to resist?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is the motif of sound included within Lost Children Archive and how does its treatment relate to the novel's depicted messages?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Luiselli's choice to tell the story of Lost Children Archive using the first person point-of-view of more than one member in the family at the text’s center. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Luiselli’s intended effects on the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Look carefully at the passages of Lost Children Archive that describe the close relationship between the boy and the girl at the center of the text. What is Luiselli’s purpose for discussing at length the nature of the connection between the boy and the girl?

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