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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. Why does the woman not want her husband to give David money?

2. What does the man say David will find by the tree?

3. What does David see that will work for shelter for him?

4. What does David help the man find, that he has lost at the side of the road?

5. What story does David concoct to explain his travels?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Explain why David is reluctant to escape, and why he does it, despite his reservations.

3. Describe how David comes to own a mirror, and his reaction to his own reflection.

4. Describe David's first prayer.

5. Explain what the man on the ship and the woman in the shop mean when they discuss David's eyes.

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

7. Explain why David plunges through the thicket instead of going around it.

8. Why was crossing the road, a dangerous task, a type of turning point for David?

9. Why does David decide, as he runs during his escape, to stop running and instead to walk?

10. Explain why David decides to stay with the family, when asked.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are two strong female characters in the novel, Sophie and the mother of the children, Giovanni's wife. Compare and contrast these two women. How are they similar? How are they different? How do their backgrounds and lifestyles change the way the treat David? Whereas the mother originally sends David away, Sophie asks him to stay. What does this difference indicate about these two characters?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the book, David shows himself to be clearly different than other boys. Pick two ways in which David is different, and discuss them in depth. What are these differences? How are they depicted in the novel? What do these differences stem from? Can David overcome them, or does he need to? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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