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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What sort of body of water is contained in the part of Elegies for Lost Children that the woman reads to the boy?
(a) A lake.
(b) A river.
(c) An ocean.
(d) A bay.

2. What object does the boy throw off the cliff as part of his plan to break the silence cast upon the meal by the man and the woman?
(a) A hat.
(b) A popsicle.
(c) A shoe.
(d) A branch.

3. The girl tells the boy that if they ever got lost together in the forest "with a dog only" (218) she would stand next to the boy for what purpose?
(a) To let the dog lead the way.
(b) To be ready to jump on his back.
(c) To avoid getting licked.
(d) To avoid getting bitten.

4. What is NOT something to which the woman has been accustomed within the confines of the car during the road trip?
(a) Intermittent silence.
(b) Instant coffee.
(c) Billboards.
(d) The family's smell.

5. In the eighth elegy of the book Elegies for Lost Children, it is revealed that the boys in the group are allowed to relieve themselves a maximum of how many times per day while riding atop the train?
(a) 4.
(b) 1.
(c) 2.
(d) 3.

Short Answer Questions

1. Along what sort of pathway do the boy and the girl walk as they gradually begin to realize that they are lost?

2. With what Roman numeral is the box marked that the boy retrieves from the trunk of the family car one night?

3. What piece of information does the woman ask the boy to recite upon demand?

4. The coyote in Elegies for Lost Children begins with how many children under his supervision on their way to the United States?

5. After the woman's mother had gone to join a guerilla movement, how much time passed before the woman saw her mother again?

Short Essay Questions

1. What event causes the boy to become unhappy for the first time since he and the girl had set out on their journey together?

2. For what length of time has the family been driving when the boy asks the woman to play a David Bowie song in the car?

3. How does the boy answer the woman's queries about the procedures he would follow if he and the girl ever became lost? What is the woman's reaction to the boy's answer?

4. What is the woman's philosophy about answering the questions of the boy and girl?

5. Who is the rancher encountered by the boy and girl on their journey and why is the boy happy when he discovers the rancher's name?

6. What example does the boy give when he claims that the girl is "sometimes really smart" (196)?

7. What clues does the boy leave for the man and woman in regard to his and the girl's plans?

8. How does the fictional author of Elegies for Lost Children demonstrate the way in which the "man in charge" (164) despises being asked questions?

9. Which section of the fifth elegy causes the woman to stop reading to the boy?

10. What bright spot does the boy say will remain in the situation even if the man and woman never find the two of them?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,437 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample