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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 shocks Ginny about what Mrs. Knapp gives her?

2. Where does Ginny find a key?

3. Where does Aunt Peg go from Amsterdam?

4. Where do Ginny and Keith spend the night?

5. Who is Cecil Gage-Rathbone?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Peg say about Paris when she finished her job at the cafe and what does she tell Ginny she is to do next?

2. What does Ginny find at the second hostel she stops at and how does she end up spending the night there? What does she do once she has a place?

3. How does Ginny find the cafe and what does she do there?

4. What does Olivia tell Ginny when they discuss using the internet?

5. Where do Keith and Ginny spend the night in Paris?

6. What does Ginny tell Keith about Richard and what does he say to her?

7. What does Peg tell Ginny in her letter about Denmark?

8. How does Ginny find a key?

9. How do Ginny and Carrie lose their backpacks?

10. Where does Ginny go after Copenhagen and how does she end up with friends going with her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Often, authors will write about "what they know," and sometimes knowing a little about the author makes the books more interesting. Discuss the following:

1. Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Maureen Johnson.

2. What in Johnson's background may have helped him in writing "13 Little Blue Envelopes"? What may have influenced the way he depicts various characters and scenes?

3. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples.

Essay Topic 2

"13 Little Blue Envelopes" belongs to the teen novel genre. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the teen novel genre.

2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.

3. What do you think is the difference between a teen novel and a historical novel?

Essay Topic 3

There are a number of interesting questions raised by "13 Little Blue Envelopes". Questions that Johnson most likely want readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Johnson' agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Johnson' probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

4. Research the life of Johnson and see if/where his life may have influenced his writing.

(see the answer keys)

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