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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. How many weeks after third grade starts does Ginny arrive in Cece's class?

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

3. What adjective does Cece use to describe the pouch that the audiologist gives her just before she leaves the audiology office?

4. What item does Cece begin to notice her hospital roommate getting "all the time" (5), though Cece never gets any?

5. When the school year begins with an assembly in the gym, who does Cece avoid?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Cece feel about learning sign language when the idea is first presented to her by her mother?

2. Cece Bell begins the narrative by stating, "I was a regular little kid" (1). What examples does she provide for her conclusion?

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

4. When Cece says that she makes "many discoveries about lip-reading" (31), what are three of the seven discoveries she lists?

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

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

7. How is the theme of family bonds depicted within Cece's return home from the hospital?

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

9. Though Cece only briefly attends a school for children with hearing impairments, she learns a lot. How does the author use illustrations to augment the reader's understanding of the lessons Cece learns?

10. What happens to cause Cece to stop having fun at Ginny's sleepover party?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author's choice to tell the story of Cece Bell's graphic novel memoir El Deafo using the first person point-of-view. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what is the author's intended effect on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how and why the author instills three different humanist messages into the narrative of Cece Bell's graphic novel memoir El Deafo.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the instances of irony within the narrative of Cece Bell's graphic novel memoir El Deafo and analyze the author's purpose for including each instance you discuss.

(see the answer keys)

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