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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 is the first movie the hero watched with his parents?

2. Who is held for hostage when the hero learns that the asylum has been taken over?

3. Who is Amadeus Arkham?

4. Who inspires Amadeus to open the asylum?

5. Who speaks to the story's hero on the phone, demanding to speak to the hero in person?

Short Essay Questions

1. Briefly discuss what the bat skeleton symbolizes in the opening pages.

2. What literary technique is used to tell Arkham's story in this novel and why?

3. Why does the hero initially say he will not go to the asylum?

4. What does the sound of Harriet's clock symbolize when Arkham walks in and finds his wife and daughter dead?

5. Why does the hero cut himself as he runs through the mirrored halls of the asylum?

6. The Joker's reasoning for having the hero come to the asylum seems to differ from other inmates' reasons. What is the difference?

7. Who is the hero's biggest enemy as he races through the asylum halls? What do the halls represent?

8. How does the display of art in the opening of this graphic novel engage the reader?

9. What observations does the hero state about the asylum and one of its patients?

10. Why does Arkham want to create an asylum from his old house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the difference between conflict and crisis in a novel? How are they similar? Relate the differences and similarities specifically to this graphic novel.

Essay Topic 2

Write a history of the graphic novel as a genre and include a brief review of the history of DC Comics.

Essay Topic 3

Write a character description for the Joker. How does the Joker in the novel differ from the writer's original concept of him?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 697 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample