View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Ayla go out alone?

2. Why does Brun reprimand Broud?

3. Where does the clan allow gestures of affection?

4. What does Ayla find when she is looking for a place to practice her sling skills?

5. What does Broud offer to make Vorn?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ayla realize about her son's deformity?

2. What does Creb realize about Durc?

3. Why is Ayla embarrassed as the clan begins its journey to the Clan Gathering?

4. Why does Broud become sexually interested in Ayla?

5. How does Ayla feel when she makes her first kill?

6. What makes the girl blindly rush straight toward the herd of wild cows?

7. Why does Ayla think she should be able to keep the baby?

8. Why does the medicine woman have status of her own, regardless of her mate?

9. What does Ayla think about what Iza told her before she died?

10. Why does Broud cuff Ayla?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What role do the totem spirits play in the lives of the clan? How do their beliefs regarding the spirits affect their acceptance of Ayla? How does Ayla challenge their beliefs? Write an essay about three specific points in the story where the totem spirits play a role.

Essay Topic 2

Ayla is more influenced by love of Creb and Iza than Brun or Broud's punishments could ever achieve. Write an essay exploring the role love plays in Ayla's life, using examples from the text.

Part 1) How is Ayla's behavior influenced by love?

Part 2) How does Creb's love for Ayla influence him?

Part 3) Are there any other characters motivated by love? In what ways does love influence his or her actions?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the three options to write about.

1) There are many instances of foreshadowing in The Clan of the Cave Bear. Cite 3 examples of foreshadowing. Explain how each example is used to indicate future events in the novel.

2) There are also many symbols used in the novel. Discuss 3 symbols used in the novel. How are these symbols used? What is their meaning?

3) How is irony used in the novel? Discuss 3 examples of dramatic irony used in the novel. How can the situations or events be seen as ironic?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,201 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample