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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. About what are these three people warned?

2. Where does Calder work?

3. From whom does Calder receive a letter?

4. What is said about Ms. Hussey as a teacher?

5. How does author say "Chasing Vemeer" is related to pentominoes?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Calder and Petra learn about the Lady?

2. What is wrong with Ms. Hussey and what do Caler and Petra think about all the problems?

3. What does Petra begin looking for, and does she find it at home?

4. What does the letter from Tommy say, and what is Calder's thoughts about the letter?

5. What does the author challenge the reader to do concerning the artwork and why?

6. What sort of books has Ms. Hussey chosen in Powell's Bookstore?

7. Why is the University School founded, and how what Ms. Hussey think of this?

8. How do the students respond to the quote by Picasso, and who is especially intrigued by it?

9. Who are Calder and Petra, and how do they differ?

10. Why does Calder think he and Petra should call The National Gallery?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the following:

1. What is a plot? What are the most important elements of a plot and their definition? Do all novels have a plot? Why or why not?

2. Write a brief synopsis of the plot of "Chasing Vermeer", identifying where the various elements of the plot occur (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement). Do you find it difficult to identify the plot? Why or why not? What about the various elements of the plot?

3. Identify the major sub-plots and their elements in "Chasing Vermeer". (The subplots may not contain every element of a major plot). Do the sub-plots add to the main plot? Why or why not. Are the sub-plots interesting in and of themselves? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Lo! is a book full of unexplained events. The clippings in this book come from newspapers from all over the world and include hundreds of stories of bizarre events. The majority of these events are of living animals falling out of the sky. Charles Fort, the author of the book, believes that people take what happens around them and then make these often odd and unlikely events fit into something they can understand, rather than taking what actually happens and trying to figure out why it has happened.

1. Do you think a bizarre event can always be explained by science, even if the knowledge is not available in the present time? Why or why not? Use examples from "Chasing Vermeer" and your own life to support your answer.

2. Making something you see into something your mind understands or expects is a common phenomenon. For example, we might see "waht" but read "what". Discuss an incident in "Chasing Vermeer" in which one of the characters saw an event and decided to interpret that event based on what the character wanted to find or know. Use examples from "Chasing Vermeer" and your own life to support your answer.

3. Explain, in depth, how reading Lo! changed Petra and Calder's perception of the world. Use examples from "Chasing Vermeer" and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Pentominoes are very important to the plot and the thought processes of the main characters in this book, so this description of Pentominoes is very important to the reader. The story takes place in Hyde Park near the University of Chicago, focusing around an educational model in which children are given school assignments that are relevant to real life.

1. Do you think school which teaches material relevant to real life are better than those that do not? Why or why not? Use examples from "Chasing Vermeer" and your own life to support your answer.

2. How do you think pentominoes can affect a person's thought process? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Do you think knowing how to find and answer is more important than memorizing data? Why or why not? Use examples from "Chasing Vermeer" and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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