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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 Thomas do every day before going to the airport in New York?

2. Which of the following is not something Grandma remembers as she sits with Oskar in My Feelings?

3. Why is Oskall Shell home alone on September 11, 2001?

4. What does Oskar always say in response to Grandma calling his name?

5. What command does Oskar refuse in his first jujitsu class?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Thomas Schell's silence affect his living situation?

2. Describe Oscar's interplay with Gerald Thompson in What The?

3. How does Grandma begin to alienate Thomas Schell in My Feelings?

4. What does Grandma do the day before Dresden is bombed?

5. What ideas does Oskar Schell come up with in the beginning of What The?

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

7. When does Grandma first see Thomas in Dresden?

8. How does Grandma convince Thomas to marry her in My Feelings?

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

10. What happens in the airport in My Feelings?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a story about interconnection. Oskar Schell's search of the key's lock is an egalitarian one, crossing different boroughs, socioeconomic groups, and life experiences. Write an essay about three of the Blacks Oskar meets in his quest. How is this person's experience different from his own? What about this person's life is compelling to Oskar? What questions does he ask, and in the end how is his life richer for meeting this person?

Part 1) Abby Black.

Part 2) Abe Black.

Part 3) Ada Black.

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is, at its roots, a study of human yearning for love in the face of brutal cataclysm. In the novel, characters lose each other and find each other in the crucible of tragedy. Write an essay about this in three parts:

Part 1) What is lost to the major character of the novel in the wake of the attack of September 11, 2001? How are existing bonds strengthened in the wake of this tragedy? In this paragraph, discuss the relationships among Oskar, Mom, and Grandma.

Part 2) Write a paragraph about the bombing of Dresden. How does this horrific event of World War II affect the Schell and Schmidt families? Who is lost in this bombing? How does the bombing, in the end, lead to another marriage and the birth of a child?

Part 3) In summation, discuss how a marriage that was destroyed by the memories of Dresden is reunited in the wake of September 11th. Who returns to whom in the aftermath? What characters begin to learn about their roots as a result of this reunion?

(see the answer keys)

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