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. How does Robert Kavanagh look when Lady Fairfax sees him once?

2. What does Isobel wonder about reality?

3. What does Gordon remember about Eliza much later after they are married?

4. Who is the narrator in "Future: Streets of Trees"?

5. Who does Gordon invite to tea?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Isobel say about Charles?

2. How does Malcolm die this time in Isobel's "vision"?

3. What happens to Lady Margaret and Master Shakespeare?

4. Who is Lady Margaret and what happens to her in regards to Sir Francis?

5. How does Gordon clarify his statement about the death of Eliza?

6. What impressions does Isobel have about where she is at the end of this chapter?

7. For whom do the servants prepare the home?

8. When does Isobel awake from her coma, and what does she learn about why she is in the hospital?

9. What smell does Isobel awaken to and what does she notice?

10. How does Lady Fairfax end up being with Robert Kavanagh?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Atkinson chooses to write the novel in different points of views. Discuss the following:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this novel being written in several points of views?

2. Do you think the novel would be more effective in a different point of view? Which one if so?

3. When do you think an author is most likely to use the first person point of view? Second person? Third person omniscient? Third person limited?

4. Do you think the narrators in "Human Croquet" are reliable, i.e., do you believe the narrator is completely unbiased? Explain your response.

5. What is your favorite point of view to read? Or do you have a favorite.

Essay Topic 2

Melinda is sixteen when the novel opens. Discuss the following:

1. What are some ways that Melinda seems like an average sixteen year old? Give examples and why you say the activities are average teen activities.

2. What are some ways that Isobel seems older than her age of 16? Give specific examples and discuss whether they seem consistent with the character of Isobel as she is developed throughout the book.

3. Is it realistic to think Isobel could handle the situations that arise in the novel alone? Where do you think Isobel could have turned to for help?

Essay Topic 3

"Human Croquet" takes place in and about London, England in the 1960s with some flashbacks to other eras.

1. How do you think the cultural milieu of a small English village informs the plot of "Human Croquet". Explain.

2. Discuss the lives of Isobel and her social group in light of the class structure in England at the time of "Human Croquet". Do you think all countries have some form of class structure? Why or why not.

3. How would the plot be impacted if the setting were in the United States at the same time period? Explain the differences.

4. How important do you think it is to understand the setting of a particularly book? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 994 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample