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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 Tom do after carol practice when only he and Willie are in the church?

2. How does Tom get Willie out of the hospital?

3. Why are three children missing from Mrs. Hartridge's class on Monday in Chapter 14, "New Beginnings"?

4. What does Willie teach himself to do after Zach dies?

5. What is celebrated on September 7th, 1940?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the choir respond to Mr. Tom on his first night of organ playing for the carol service?

2. What does everyone at the rehearsal discover about Willie? How does this discovery affect him? How is this discovery not surprising?

3. How has Zach helped Willie discover himself?

4. How is Willie similar and different from the boy that Tom met at the beginning of the novel?

5. How do the psychiatrist and Tom differ in their assessment of Willie's recovery needs?

6. By the end of Chapter 19, "The Sea! The Sea! The Sea!," Tom's character has changed from the man that he was before Willie came into his life. How has Tom changed and how is it specifically seen in this chapter?

7. In Chapter 14, "New Beginnings," there are a few actual new beginnings. What are they, and what changes will they bring to the lives of the characters?

8. How is Chapter 16, "The Search" suspenseful?

9. Once again in this novel, two people with tragedy in their lives will come together and help each other heal. In Chapter 20, "Spooky Cott" who does Willie meet and how will their meeting help each of them?

10. What is the relationship between Zach and his parents? Why would the reader question this relationship?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Zach's and Willie's characters.

Essay Topic 2

How does the theater play more than one role in the novel? What are its affects on the main characters?

Essay Topic 3

In what ways does Mrs. Beech not recognize her own son when he returns to London? How does she react to the changes? What does she believe brought about the changes? What do the changes say about the way she used to treat her son?

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