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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. Where is Corfu?

2. Where did Gerald decide to dissect his turtle?

3. What or who is Fabre?

4. What did Gerald learn from Theodore about the snails he had seen mating?

5. In what month did the Darrell family arrive in Corfu?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Kokino? What does Kokino mean in Greek? What did Kokino and Gerald do together?

2. Who is Taki Thanatos? How did Gerald meet him? What did the two share in common? Where did Taki want to take Gerald?

3. What was the set pattern Theo and Gerald had established for their excursions? What was the first thing they did when settling into a new spot?

4. What is a China-mark moth? What makes this moth unique?

5. How did Leslie react to settling into their new home? What did he set about to do while in Corfu? How did his mother react to this plan?

6. What did Gerald bring with him for his nighttime fishing expedition? What did he do with his treasures before returning home? What did Taki give Gerald to appease Mother for the late hour of Gerald's return?

7. What did Gerald and Theo discover on their excursion to the lake? Why was this discovery exciting for Gerald?

8. Who was Sven? How did he come upon the Durrell family? What was Sven's unusual talent that drove the family crazy? What did Gerald learn Sven had in common with him?

9. Who was Sally? Where did Sally come from? How did the name Sally come to be? Why was Gerald excited to have Sally as a member of the household?

10. What dead creature did Gerald load onto his boat and bring home from the bay? What did he do with it upon coming home? How did the family react to his newest creature?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gerald Durrell ended his memoir with the short paragraph "Lulled by the wine and the throbbing heart of the boat's engine, lulled by the warm night and the singing, I fell asleep while the boat carried us back across the warm, smooth waters to our island and the brilliant days that were not to be." Discuss this sentence, its relevance to the memoir as a whole, and the "days ahead" for the family.

Essay Topic 2

The writer uses dialogue to enhance the characters and often to inject humor into a situation. What are three examples of memorable dialogue in the memoir? Why are they memorable, and why are they important to the memoir?

Essay Topic 3

When Leslie is brought to trial by a neighbor accusing Roger of eating three turkeys, Spiro tells him how to handle the problem. What does Spiro help Leslie do, and how does his idea work out for Leslie? What comment is Durrell making about the legal affairs in their small village?

(see the answer keys)

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