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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 and by who was the white owl found?

2. What was Pavlo's special talent?

3. What song were Donald and Max singing as they approached the Durrell home?

4. Where was Margo when Mother and Gerald arrived to see her?

5. What sounds could be heard in the olive press?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to Mother, Larry and the rest of the crew on the yacht ride with Mother? How did Mother react to the event? What was in the letter Captain Creech sent Mother after his departure and how did Mother respond to it?

2. What sound woke Larry in the middle of the night that caused him to wake the rest of the family? What did Gerald tell them all that explained things? What had caused the noise?

3. What did Gerald do with his owl when he got home? What name did he give his owl? Where did he place the owl once he had tended to him?

4. What did Donald want to read to Larry? What was Larry's response? What was Mother's response?

5. Who was Papa Demetrios? How did Gerald and Papa Demetrios know each other? What story did he tell Gerald about a fellow villager, Andreas Papoyakis?

6. What kinds of food and drink did Gerald's luncheon with the Countess consist of? How did Gerald feel as he left the Countess' villa to go home?

7. Who was the Countess Mavrodaki? Why did she contact Gerald? What was Larry's reaction to her letter to Gerald?

8. What unusual method did Donald and Max have for leaving the villa on the night of their visit? What happened as they left?

9. What happened when Gerald arrived home after his visit with Pavlo and the gypsy?

10. What was the bear's name? How did he respond to Gerald? What was Gerald's reaction to the bear?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

The final section of the book is entitled "Mail." What is in this chapter? Why is it important to the memoir? What do we know after reading the mail about the family and about Corfu?

Essay Topic 3

There are many important scenes in the memoir in which the whole family reacts to something Gerald has done. One is the family's reaction to Pavlo. Another is the description of the turtle on the veranda. By their reactions, the family provides us with important parts of their personalities. Compare and contrast these two important examples of the family reacting to something Gerald has done, and discuss what we learn about the people involved.

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