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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 or who is Fabre?

2. What other animal had Gerald dissected before the turtle?

3. What did Margo do daily to combat her acne?

4. What did Theodore and Gerald snack on after their day of exploration in Chapter Four?

5. How did Larry react to Theodore's information about the snails Gerald had seen?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was the first friend the family made upon arriving on the island of Corfu? What important help did this new friend give Gerald and his family?

2. What was the "hypocritical prayer?" What did Gerald observe about this creature?

3. What was the "Bootle-bumtrinket?" How did Gerald get it and what did he do with it?

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

5. 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?

6. Where did Taki take Gerald to catch fish? What unusual method did Taki use to catch fish? What strange fish did Taki catch that fascinated Gerald? What did Gerald learn about the fish Taki caught?

7. What did Gerald do with the crab he and Roger discovered on one of their walks? What did Gerald find fascinating about the crab that led him to further exploration?

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

9. Why did George introduce Gerald to Theo Stephanides? What did Gerald hope to learn from Theo?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is Kralefsky? He is given an opportunity to tell a story in Chapter Nine. What is the story he tells, and why does Gerald doubt the truth of the story?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Larry is the oldest child in the family, and Gerald's oldest brother. Write a character sketch for Larry. Include his role in the family, his various interests, and his most noticeable personality traits. Also draw your own conclusions about his behavior, his feelings about his family, and specifically his feelings for Gerald.

(see the answer keys)

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