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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 Oskar respond to A.R. Black's announcement that he is quitting the search?

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

3. Why is Oskar nervous about meeting Ruth Black?

4. In The Sixth Borough, what had the engineers brought in to deal with the island previously worked on?

5. In Why I'm Not Where You Are, what news can Thomas not bring himself to tell Grandma about her father?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Describe Thomas's experience during the bombing of Dresden.

5. What is the living arrangement between Grandma and Thomas in Why I'm Not Where You Are?

6. What does Stephen Hawking say to Oskar in A Simple Solution to an Impossible Problem?

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

8. What does does Thomas tell his son about his and and his former wife's location at the beginning Why I'm Not Where You Are?

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

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

One of the most whimsical and tragic figures of the novel is A.R. Smith, the old photographer the floor above Oskar. Write an essay about A.R. Black, his worldview, and his impetus to help Oskar on his quest. How does his extensive card catalogue reflect a particular worldview? What in his past could have contributed to this worldview? Why do you think that A.R. Black decides to join Oskar on his search, and why do you think 6 months is enough searching for him? Sum up by offering an opinion as to where he goes when he moves out of Oskar's building. Do you think he moves in with Ruth Black?

Essay Topic 2

The end of the novel is a strangely happy one, though it does not contain anything that concretely resolves the conflicts of the novel. Write an essay about the ending of Oskar's narrative and what it means to him and to the reader:

Part 1) What is the resolution of the quest of the key? Discuss why William Black would need the key and why Dad had it in a vase. Does this resolution, in the end, offer anything illuminating to Oskar Schell regarding his father? How was the journey to this resolution more important than the destination?

Part 2) What understand do Oskar and his mother reach in the final chapter of the novel? What single request does he make of her and what concession does he give regarding her happiness? Does she make any concrete promises him regarding the future?

Part 3) Discuss the fantasy that ends the novel. What alternate reality does Oskar create for his father, beginning with his picture in the Stuff That Happened to Me book? How does this provide the novel with a bittersweet happy ending?

Essay Topic 3

The plot of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is riddled with absent fathers. Write an essay about the prevalence of absent father figures, focusing on the primary father-son relationship in each othe two primary story-lines. What is the reason for each father's absence? How does each father communicate with his estranged son on a daily basis without actually doing so? In summation, discuss what happens when the estranged father figure of one narrative meets the orphaned son of the other. How do they interact?

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