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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 the current theory in Chapter Four about Laura's disappearance?

2. What Vietnamees delicacy does Charlie love?

3. What research captures Charlie's imagination at the library?

4. What sends Charlie racing from his room when he awakens in Chapter Three?

5. As they walk out of the woods at the end of Chapter One, how does Charlie feel about Jasper?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what ways does Wesley Bucktin remind Charlie of Atticus Finch?

2. What are some of the problems between Charlie and his mother?

3. What does Charlie fall asleep thinking about in Chapter Three?

4. Why might Jeffrey Lu takes great chances?

5. Why is it unusual that no one is talking about Laura Wishart's disappearance in Chapter Two?

6. Why does Charlie debate telling Eliza (or not telling her) what he knows about Laura's death?

7. What is it that attracts Charlie to Eliza Wishart?

8. How does Charlie's research into killers affect the way he thinks about his town?

9. In what ways is the relationship between Charlie's parents built on a shaky foundation?

10. What is the history of the study in the Bucktin household? How might its current use a study create turmoil?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you explore the ways that Jasper, Charlie, Jack Lionel, and Wesley create a new world in which women and minorities have the possibilities of rights and respect. You may focus on one topic or on more than one character.

Essay Topic 2

Strained parent-child relationships lie at the core of so much of this novel. Write an essay exploring and explaining the reasons behind these strains and the ways that these problems actually serve as learning experiences for the teens and for the reader.

Essay Topic 3

Reading and writing are the major outlets for Charlie and Weslie. How do they use these hobbies to inform their interactions with the broader world around them?

(see the answer keys)

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