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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 does Petra wonder about Ms. Hussey and Mrs. Sharpe?

2. How do those caught in the thief's plan feel?

3. What does Petra feel about her thoughts the next morning?

4. Where is Calder caught?

5. What is does Petra and Calder think Petra has found?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Petra and Calder learn on the evening news?

2. What hypothetical question does Ms. Hussey ask the Calder and Petra and what is their response?

3. Who is chasing Petra and Calder and what happens?

4. Why is Petra nervous in Delia Dell Hall?

5. What is significant about the number twelve?

6. What happens when Petra enters her kitchen the next morning?

7. What happens to Ms. Hussey in Chapter Fifteen?

8. What does Petra find near Mrs. Sharpe's home?

9. What occurs on the visit Petra and Calder make to the hospital to visit Mrs. Sharpe?

10. How does Calder manage to search Mrs. Sharpe's house, and what does he find?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Choose one of the following to discuss:

1. Choose two significant symbols and trace and analyze their appearance in "Chasing Vermeer". Are these universal symbols? Would they be understood in any culture? Are there other symbols that would portray the same idea? What are they? Why do you think Balliett chooses the symbols he does?

2. Choose two important metaphors and trace and analyze their appearance in the novel. Are these universal metaphors? Would they be understood in any culture? Are there other metaphors that would portray the same idea? What are they? Why do you think Balliett chooses the metaphors she does?

3. Discuss Balliett's use (or lack ) of literary device (such as foreshadowing, cliffhangers, deux ex machina, etc.), and how they add or detract from the story. Does Balliett use too many or too little literary techniques? State which of the five major elements of fiction the literary device is related to (style, character, plot, setting, theme).

Essay Topic 3

Chasing Vermeer belongs to the young teen novel genre. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the young teen novel genre.

2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.

3. What do you think is the difference between a young teen novel and a historical novel?

(see the answer keys)

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