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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 Marguerite tell Eddie before he leaves for the war?

2. According to the Blue Man, what is Heaven for?

3. What talent does Eddie have that eventually helps him escape from prison during the war?

4. What does Eddie see when he dies?

5. What do Eddie and the other three soldiers have to do while imprisoned?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss Eddie's encounter with the first character he meets in Heaven, the Blue Man.

2. When the action returns to Ruby Pier, the reader finds the park closed. How does Eddie's death impact the Pier?

3. What happens in the plot when Eddie asks the Blue Man if he saves the little girl at the Pier?

4. What happens when Eddie realizes the danger is not over at the Freddy Free Fall?

5. Discuss the meaning of the Captain's quote, "When you sacrifice something that is precious, you don't actually lose it. "

6. What is Eddie's role in the death of the Blue Man?

7. How does Albom reveal the relationship between Joe and Eddie in Chapter Four?

8. Discuss the significance of the title of Chapter Three, "The Arrival".

9. Eddie no longer feels any pain. Why might his loss of pain be significant to being in Heaven?

10. What does the reader learn about "Eddie Maintenance" in Chapter One?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Albom changes the setting many times throughout the novel, but Ruby Pier remains as the main focus. Discuss how the Ruby Pier of Eddie's childhood, the Ruby Pier of the past, and the Ruby Pier of the present serve as effective settings for the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Consider the fact that Eddie still worked at the Pier at age eighty-three. Next, recall Eddie's relationship with his father and his brother. Using facts from the novel, write an essay where Eddie's father and Eddie's brother are two of the people Eddie meets in Heaven. What lessons would they teach Eddie? How might their interactions play out?

Essay Topic 3

Eddie learns that his life has helped to save the lives of many others. How might the five people Eddie meets in Heaven be impacted if Eddie had NOT been involved in their lives? Discuss how the Blue Man, Tala, Amy or Annie, Marguerite, and Ruby might have entirely different lives if it were not for Eddie.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,141 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample