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. On what gift to his mother does Oskar leave a coded form of his father's last message in Googolplex?

2. Which of the following is something that Oskar determines he will not be fore starting his quest on The Only Animal?

3. What lie does Oskar tell Aaron Black over the speaker in The Only Animal?

4. What does Thomas tell Grandma he has not done since coming to America in My Feelings?

5. Which Black lives in the same building as Oskar?

Short Essay Questions

1. When does Grandma first see Thomas in Dresden?

2. What two ways does Oskar communicate with Grandma in Googolplex?

3. What happens to Oskar when he arrives home on September 11, 2001?

4. When do Anna and Thomas discover they love each other in Why I'm Not Where You Are?

5. What cautionary story does Grandma's own grandmother tell in her letter in My Feelings?

6. Describe Oskar's first stop on his quest.

7. What does Oskar do with the key in this chapter?

8. What is the purpose of the drain system Oskar imagines in Googolplex?

9. Describe Thomas Schell's first meeting with his future wife?

10. Why does Grandma get samples of letters as a child in My Feelings?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In many ways, a deceased parent will always seem more attractive to the a child sees and argues with every day. Write an essay comparing Thomas Schell, Jr., and Mom, based on Oskar's attitudes toward them. How does Oskar's impression of Mom suffer as a result of Thomas's death? What resentment does he develop towards her, and how does it manifest itself? Conversely, how does Oskar remember Thomas? Do you think that his image of his father has grown unfairly perfect in memory?

Essay Topic 2

The structure of the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is unusual from the beginning, with the mixing of different narrators and syntax styles, but Jonathan Safran Foer further muddies the narrative waters by having the narrative regularly interrupted by pages that contain something other than plot. Write an essay about these pages, discussing what their connection to the narrative is. Who, presumably, has inserted them into the novel and why? How does their inclusion affect the way the novel is perceived as an object? What does it become?

Part 1) Photos

Part 2) Pages with a single phrase on them.

Part 3) Blank pages.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the city of New York as a character in the novel. To what extent is the character of Oskar Schell making a connection with a wounded city throughout his journey? What role does his father's story of the sixth borough have in romanticizing New York on the eve of its deepest trauma? How does the key quest bring Oskar to new and different areas of a city renowned as a melting pot? In summation, what is Jonathan Safran Foer saying about the city of New York through this novel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,126 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample