3. In the eighth elegy of the book Elegies for Lost Children, it is revealed that the boys in the group are allowed to relieve themselves a maximum of how many times per day while riding atop the train?

4. When the boy and girl encounter a man on a tractor while they are lost, the boy recognizes the man's name from what document?

5. The woman claims that "At night, fear belongs to" (157) whom?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way does the motif of music enter the part of the narrative when the boy and girl enter a diner to get some water?

2. What commonalities does the boy find between the careers of the man and the woman?

3. Discuss how the boy's reunion with the girl comes about after their separation and include discussion of the boy's reaction to their reunion.

4. Which section of the fifth elegy causes the woman to stop reading to the boy?

5. What does the airplane symbolize within the Virginia Woolf epigraph at the start of Family Soundscapes: "Box IV"?

6. Who is the rancher encountered by the boy and girl on their journey and why is the boy happy when he discovers the rancher's name?

7. What is the woman's philosophy about answering the questions of the boy and girl?

8. What kind of animal does the boy wish for once he realizes that he and the girl are lost and why?

9. How does the fictional author of Elegies for Lost Children demonstrate the way in which the "man in charge" (164) despises being asked questions?

10. What sight in the backseat causes the woman to relent and to grant the boy's request to play "Space Oddity" again after the "fifth or sixth time" (156)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How are the topics of romantic relationships, love, and sex treated within the novel Lost Children Archive and how does their treatment relate to the novel's depicted messages?