Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What crime is mentioned in the letter?
2. What do Petra and Calder learn about Vermeer?
3. What shocks Petra?
4. Who is Louise Coffin Sharpe?
5. What is the purpose of the book "Chasing Vermeer"?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does Petra obtain the book called "Lo!"?
2. How does a set of pentominoes work?
3. What does Charles Fort believe people do?
4. Why does Calder think he and Petra should call The National Gallery?
5. Who are Calder and Petra, and how do they differ?
6. What do Ms. Hussey and the students discuss in class and what does she quote from Picasso?
7. What is Ms. Hussey teaching her students, and where is she teaching?
8. What is the book "Lo!" about?
9. What does Petra begin looking for, and does she find it at home?
10. What do Petra and Calder learn about the Lady and what do they decide to do?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Many novels, and perhaps a majority, of novels ends on a happy note. Discuss the following:
1. Why do you think many (most?) people want what they perceive as a happy or good ending to a novel? Explain your opinion. Do you? Why or why not?
2. What are three reasons to read fiction? Discuss each one in light of "Chasing Vermeer" and whether or not it fulfills all three, two or one of the reasons you mention. Give examples as to why "Chasing Vermeer" is or is not successful in fulfilling the reasons you discuss.
3. Do you think reading solely for entertainment is as good a reason to read as any other? Why or why not? Can any work of fiction or non-fiction, no matter how poorly written, enlighten, teach, stimulate thought? 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
Titles often play a vital role in making a person decide to read a particular book. Discuss the following:
1. Fully explain why you think "Chasing Vermeer" is titled as such. Do you think it is the best title for the book? Why or why not? Can you think of a better title? Why would you choose it?
2. How important is a title in influencing you to consider reading a book? Explain your answer.
3. Do you think a title needs to have direct relevance to a book's content? Explain your answer.
4. Have you ever read a book that when you finished, you do not understand the relevance of the title? Does it discourage you from "trusting" that particular author again?
|
This section contains 1,043 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
