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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 is David nervous of doing?

2. What feature does David want to see most about himself?

3. What does David see on the third evening that he wants to care for?

4. What does David do that helps him not burn when he saves the girl?

5. Why doesn't David eat much at dinner?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain why the man on the ship does not turn David in, and how he helps him to escape.

2. Explain why David is afraid to attempt to hitchhike.

3. Explain how David comes to the home of Giovanni.

4. Describe David's reaction to his bedroom, when he awakens the first time.

5. Explain why David knows so many languages, and how this might be able to help him.

6. What happens to David's clothes, and what is the result of this? How does he feel?

7. Why does David force himself not to think?

8. Explain why David's eating of the orange forced him to consider going into town.

9. Describe the scene with the man who loses his glasses. What does David do, what is the couple's response, and why is it disturbing for David?

10. Describe how David is able to keep going long after he has stopped caring.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several times in the novel, David uses water to cleanse himself of various negative events. Choose one of the following examples, and discuss, in depth, how the cleansing David performs symbolizes the cleansing of his spirit and his inner self.

• David's scrubbing after escaping the camp

• David's washing following his beating by Carlo

• David's daily washing in the house of Giovanni

Essay Topic 2

In the novel, the value of freedom and independent choice is a primary theme in the novel. Choose one of the following examples, and discuss it in detail. Explain not only the situation, but how the situation embodies the theme of freedom and value of independent thought.

• David's reaction to Angelo's dilemma of whom to marry

• David's decision to walk across the road on page 35.

• David's letter to Giovanni and his wife

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the novel there is reference to David's eyes. This is later linked in the novel to the eyes of Edith, his mother. Explain what people see when they look into David's eyes, in terms of why they find his eyes do unique. What in David's life has led him to show the expression in his eyes that he shows? Why does his mother have the same eyes? How does the author use this to link not only their genetics, but their experiences?

(see the answer keys)

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