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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. Of the three littluns that are described together playing by the sandcastles in Chapter 4: “Painted Faces and Long Hair,” who is described as “the biggest of them”?

2. What does Jack ask Ralph for when he arrives at the camp in Chapter 3: “Huts on the Beach”?

3. As Simon attempts to speak during the assembly in Chapter 5: “Beast from Water,” the narrator states, “Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential” what?

4. The narrator says in Chapter 4: “Painted Faces and Long Hair,” “At midday the illusions merged into the sky and there the sun gazed down like” what?

5. Which of the boys had, in his “other life… received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand,” according to the narrator in Chapter 4: “Painted Faces and Long Hair”?

Short Essay Questions

1. What can be interpreted by Jack’s behavior toward Piggy in Chapter 4: “Painted Faces and Long Hair”?

2. Why does Ralph confront Jack in the beginning of Chapter 3: “Huts on the Beach”? How does Jack respond?

3. Why do you think Piggy’s statements during the meeting are largely ignored in Chapter 2: “Fire on the Mountain”?

4. What is foreshadowed at the vote for the leader at the meeting in Chapter 1: “The Sound of the Shell”? Who is chosen?

5. What characteristics serve to develop the conflict between Ralph and Jack in Chapter 5: “Beast from Water”?

6. What is found at the castle rock in Chapter 6: “Beast from Air”? Where do the boys go next?

7. Who are the first characters introduced in Chapter 1: “The Sound of the Shell”? How are they described?

8. How does the dead signal fire develop conflict in Chapter 4: “Painted Faces and Long Hair”?

9. What is discussed at the meeting in Chapter 1: “The Sound of the Shell”? How do the boys feel about their situation?

10. What events lead up to the panic of Sam and Eric in the beginning of Chapter 6: “Beast from Air”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Simon’s death in Chapter 9: “A View to a Death.” What do you think Simon’s death represents symbolically in the novel? Why do the boys of Jack’s tribe attack Simon? Who do they think he is? What do they do to him? How do they respond to their actions when it is over?

Essay Topic 2

Examine and discuss the character of Simon in the novel. How old is Simon? Is he considered to be one of the older boys on the island or one of the “littluns”? What sets Simon apart from the other characters? What physical ailment does Simon appear to suffer from?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the setting of Castle Rock in Chapter 6. How tall is the cliff that is described? How must Ralph and Jack go about accessing the area? How dangerous is this setting? Why?

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