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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. In what city does Noah currently live?

2. When Rosa calls to talk to Michael in Chapter III: Takeoff Speed, it is revealed that Rosa is the social worker for how many children?

3. As Noah gets ready one February day to travel to a particular city in France, he reflects that he has not been there since what age?

4. What language(s) did Noah speak upon his arrival in the United States at age four?

5. In what city do Noah and Michael have a very short layover before going on to Nice?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the landline phone symbolize within Chapter I: The Call?

2. In what way is the home visit scene in Chapter II: Twenty Questions an ironic one?

3. For what reason does Rosa enter Noah's New York City apartment in Chapter II: Twenty Questions?

4. In what way was Noah's mother Margot involved in her father Pere Sonne's photography career?

5. Discuss the possible significance of the novel's epigraph and name two themes that appear within its content.

6. What is the significance of the book entitled Pere Sonne: A Life's Work featured in Chapter III: Takeoff Speed?

7. Describe the photographs that are included alongside the novel's epigraph.

8. Explain the origins of the friendship between Joan and Vivienne.

9. For what purpose does Donoghue use a beanbag as a metaphor for Noah's treatment by his parents during his childhood?

10. To what location is Noah getting ready to travel in Chapter I: The Calling and for what purpose is he traveling there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What ultimate message is Donoghue sending about the nature and value of compassion?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Donoghue's purpose for juxtaposing at least two different locations in a particular way within the text of Akin.

Essay Topic 3

What is Donoghue’s message regarding the connection between grief and action and what tools are used within Akin in order to get this message across to the reader?

(see the answer keys)

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