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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. In Why I'm Not Where You Are, where does Thomas say he wants to live with Anna?

2. Why does Oskar agree to see Dr. Fein in Happiness, Happiness?

3. What is the only object Thomas retrieves in the rubble of Dresden?

4. Which of the Blacks that Oskar visited informed his mom of the search?

5. What stylistically is noticeable about this chapter, Why I'm Not Where You Are?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. 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?

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

6. How does Oskar Schell meet Thomas, Sr. at the beginning of Alive and Alone?

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

8. What is Oskar's attitude toward Dr. Fein?

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

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

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

Oskar Schell is a complex character, one that embodies both manic gregariousness and deep and unrelenting personal anguish. Write an essay about how those two facets of Oskar's personality in three parts:

Part 1) How would you describe Oskar's outward personality in the everyday world? Write a paragraph analyzing his relationship with those around him, focusing on his school life, his family life, and the way he interacts with the various Blacks he tracks down over the course of the novel.

Part 2) What does Oskar do in the privacy of his bedroom that indicates he is hiding some deep and unhealed pain in the wake of his father's death? How does this pain explode in a confrontation with his mother midway through the novel? What anger is he harboring toward her?

Part 3) Discuss the moment Oskar has with the limo driver, Gerald Thompson, on his way to his father's burial. How does the presentation of this interaction from both Oskar and Grandma's point of view reveal what is happening below the surface? How is Oskar's gregariousness a mask for his innate pain?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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