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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. Where does the plane the Adler family is on eventually crash?

2. Where does Edward immediately begin sleeping when he moves into his aunt and uncle's house?

3. What is Jordan's favorite candy?

4. What university failed to offer Bruce Adler tenure, to his disappointment?

5. What is the name Edward always went by before the crash?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Benjamin Stillman think when he sees how the Adler family interacts with each other?

2. In Part I, why does Edward feel so strange about his new bedroom being in Lacey's and John's would-be nursery?

3. What does Principal Arundhi propose to Edward when he first meets him to try to forge a connection with Edward?

4. Why does Edward want to wear all of his brother Jordan's clothes that he can find?

5. What does Edward do when he looks at John's tablet and realizes that John has been doing Internet searches for everything related to Edward and the crash?

6. What is Bruce Adler disappointed about in his professional life?

7. In Part I, how does Edward feel about going to live with Lacey and John?

8. In Part II, what is one thing Edward loved to do before the crash that he cannot bear the thought of afterwards?

9. In Part I, how does Edward feel about the President's phone call to him in the hospital?

10. Why does the flight attendant, Veronica, attract so much attention?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the challenges Lacey and John have faced as a couple before taking Edward into their care, and explain how taking Edward in changes their relationship to each other.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing Napolitano's handling of the theme of trauma. How does Edward work through his trauma, and how do other characters in the novel, both his age and older, both loved ones and strangers, help him through the process?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing the relationship between Jordan and Edward Adler. How does reading Mahira's letter, and later meeting her, change Edward's perception of both his relationship with his brother and his own grieving experience?

(see the answer keys)

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