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. What does Ellie think when her mother says that life would turn on her and set her down in some strange other place?

2. In Part Two, Chapter 11, how does Ellie find Jeremiah in the hallway?

3. Miah feels that, although his father loves him, what does he love more?

4. As Ellie and Miah huddle together outside the library, who gives them a strange look?

5. Anne says that if Ellie finds what kind of love, she will know it when she finds it?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Miah get out of having to spend time with his father's friends?

2. How does Miah find his father, when he enters the living room?

3. What are the types of love Anne describes to Ellie?

4. Why had Miah not told Ellie about his famous parents earlier in their relationship?

5. On the drive to East Hampton, what does Miah's father have to say about white people?

6. How do other kids at school react to Ellie and Miah being a couple?

7. How does Ellie react when her mother finds out she skipped math class?

8. What leads to Ellie and Miah cutting class and heading to Central Park?

9. How does Chapter 14 end?

10. What does Miah's father say happened to his relationship with Nelia?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The story ends with Ellie preparing for high school graduation and a future at a college of her choice but without the excitement of her peers. Unlike Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" she does not die alongside Jeremiah, but how, in some ways is she like Juliet? How might she resemble Maria from "West Side Story?" Does she have more hope for her future than these two women? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Frequently the author mentions rain or sun. What is the connection between the weather and the main characters and events in If You Come Softly? Why might the author have decided to create this relationship? How does noting the weather influence the tone of the book? How does this affect the reader?

Essay Topic 3

It is hinted throughout this book that it is a Romeo and Juliet story. How is If You Come Softly like "Romeo and Juliet?" How is it also different than "Romeo and Juliet?" What is the message of this tragic tale?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 944 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample