View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Thief's Story," what does Romi do for a living?

2. In "A Traveller's Tale," the narrator comments amusingly on the "enormous" size of something at the rest house (175). What is it?

3. In "Pret in the House," where are Grandmother's spectacles found the first time the ghost takes them?

4. In "The Tunnel," what is the tunnel watchman's name?

5. In "The Overcoat," what reason does the narrator think Julie must have for attending a party where she does not know anyone?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "A Traveller's Tale," where does the narrator believe that his passport is, and how does he get it back?

2. In "A Traveller's Tale," what does the narrator expect to see in Gopalpur, and what is the reality?

3. In "Pret in the House," what causes the family to decide that they need to move to a new house?

4. In "The Night the Roof Blew Off," what reasons do the family have for thinking that the roof will last through any storm?

5. In "The Coral Tree," what is the significance of the narrator's repeated claim that the girl is "fresh and clean like the rain and the red earth" (118, 121)?

6. In "A Traveller's Tale," what happens when the narrator hears a tapping at his window at night?

7. In "And Now We are Twelve," why does the family decide that it is time to move away from Maplewood?

8. In "The Tunnel," how does Sunder Singh spend his time?

9. In "Wild Fruit," why is Vijay so hungry?

10. In "The Overcoat," what does the narrator discover when he talks to Mrs. Taylor?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you explain the importance of setting in the story "A Special Tree." Use evidence from the text to support your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that examines the motif of "legacies" in Great Stories for Children. Choose at least three stories in which older people pass something important on to younger people: knowledge, a possession, a passion, etc. Use evidence from these stories to support a claim about how the "legacies" motif works in this story collection.

Essay Topic 3

In "The Night the Roof Blew Off," it is the roof over the children's room that stays intact and allows the family to save their possessions and shelter overnight. Write an essay in which you make a claim about the symbolic significance of it being the children's room rather than any other room in the house that makes this possible. Use textual evidence from the story to support your claim.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 978 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample