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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 name does the Countess tell Gerald to call her during their visit?

2. What animal was in the middle of the olive press pulling the grindstone?

3. How did the baby hedgehogs die?

4. What was the other part of the gypsy's act?

5. While Roger and Gerald were watching a red fox cub, what did they see the cub find?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Tickletummy? Where did Tickletummy come from? What special quality did Tickletummy have that warranted his name?

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

3. Who was Mawake? What was unusual about Mawake?

4. What did Pru tell Mother about Margo's behavior in London? What were her concerns? How did Margo react to the concerns of her great aunts and mother?

5. 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?

6. Who did Gerald and his mother find sitting on their front porch the afternoon they returned from their excursion into the olive groves? Where did this person come from and why? How did Mother get along with this new guest?

7. 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?

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

9. 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?

10. What did Gerald find in a field an old woman was cultivating? What did Gerald do with his find?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gerald gives detailed descriptions of two customs of the village in which he lives. One is the wedding ceremony, and another childbirth. Describe both of these customs, and how Gerald ends up witnessing them both in his first months on the island.

Essay Topic 2

What is the "olive merry go round?" How does it work, and what does it do? How does Gerald discover it and its owner?

Essay Topic 3

Before Chapter Four, Durrell has placed a quote from Professor Anstead, "Hospitality is, indeed, now no less than in classical times, a sacred duty in these islands, and it is a duty more conscientiously performed." How does this quote apply to the Durrell family? What are some examples of the hospitality they have offered to guests? What kinds of hospitality have been offered to them?

(see the answer keys)

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