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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 does Thomas Schell, Sr., describe his son's voice on the September 11th messages?

2. What does Oskar think is "grody" about the story of The Sixth Borough?

3. How long does Thomas later learn the first bombing of Dresden lasted?

4. How does Thomas react to Anna's new that she is pregnant in Why I'm Not Where You Are?

5. How did Agnes Black Die on September 11, 2001?

Short Essay Questions

1. What decision does Oskar make at the end of Alive and Alone?

2. How does Oskar's presentation go at the beginning of Happiness, Happiness?

3. How does Oskar overcome a phobia in Alive and Alone?

4. What does Thomas learn immediately before the bombing of Dresden begins?

5. Why does the trip to Agnes Black's apartment stir Oskar's curiosity in Happiness, Happiness?

6. What major item movement happens between the sixth borough and and Manhattan as it drifts off?

7. In A Simple Solution to an Impossible Problem, what does William Black reveal is the purpose of the key?

8. What does Dad relate about optimism to Oskar in the The Sixth Borough?

9. What can Thomas not bring himself to tell Grandma at the end of Why I'm Not Where You Are?

10. How does the sixth borough's drift affect a boy and girl in the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the relationship between Grandma and her sister Anna. Focus primarily on the period immediately before the bombing of Dresden. How is one girl experiencing sexuality at the same time as another is experiencing an innocent curiosity about sexually? How are they both bound to Thomas Schell, Sr. before the bombing happens? To what extent is Anna's death instrumental in bringing Grandma and Thomas together in America?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay discussing the notion that Oscar Schell is a child and a man simultaneously. How does his interaction with family, classmates and strangers reflect a style of speech and intellectual curiosity beyond his years? To whom does he write letters and why? In the second part of the essay, discuss how Oskar psychologically has been forced to mature in his fears, anxieties, and needs before his time. Why has he been left at a mid-point between childhood and adulthood?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the character of Grandma. To what extent is she portrayed as woman who beholds all the pain of the world and continues to love? Who does she lose over the course of the novel, and how does she lose each of these loved ones? What fear does this create in her? Discuss in a paragraph how her relationship with Oskar allows her to continue on in the face of heartbreak and loneliness. Who returns to her in the end of the novel, and how does she react?

(see the answer keys)

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