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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 Cece say in response to her mother's suggestion that she take a sign language class?

2. What method does the doctor use to diagnose the source of Cece's illness?

3. From what state does Ginny hail?

4. What is NOT an object named within Cece's visual packing list for Ginny's birthday sleepover party?

5. In what wintertime activity are Cece and Laura engaged when Laura tells Cece that Cece is doing it all wrong?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss how and when Bell makes it clear that the novel has serious themes, despite its status as a graphic novel.

2. Discuss how Bell communicate Cece's hearing impairment to the reader before Cece knows it herself within the narrative?

3. How does Cece use soap operas and cartoons to depict for the reader her experiences watching television?

4. What is the significance of Cece's experiences in the Girl Scouts?

5. With what illness is Cece diagnosed and what does the doctor say about it?

6. During the audiology appointment that Cece attends, what is the first sign to the doctor that there may be a problem with her hearing?

7. What signs lead Cece to eventually realize that she has a hearing impairment?

8. Discuss the irony present in the scene when Cece declares, "Just call me El Deafo!" (68).

9. What are the visual signatures that Cece Bell uses to depict the imagined activities of Cece's alter ego?

10. What are the reader's earliest clues that Cece's friendship with Laura may not be a good match?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze Cece Bell's graphic novel memoir El Deafo from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 2

Choose three specific rules that Cece Bell uses when creating the images in El Deafo, such as her inclusion of bubbled borders around any panel in which Cece is imagining possible events. Then analyze the author's purpose for each of these three rules and discuss their connections to the novel's themes.

Essay Topic 3

What is the function of Ginny’s character within the novel? Discuss the characterization methods used by the author in depicting Ginny and include in your discussion the reasons that the author portrays this character in these particular ways.

(see the answer keys)

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