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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 it about Arn that makes the soldier let him go without even a warning when he is caught sneaking to Mek's tent in the night?

2. What occurs in the American movie that causes Arn and Munny to hide their faces in their shirts?

3. In what country is Arn's hometown?

4. Why does Arn at first hesitate to volunteer when a high-ranking Khmer Rouge soldier asks who wants to play music in a band within the camp?

5. When Arn is told by a Khmer Rouge soldier that he has a new job in addition to his job as a musician in the band, what does that new job turn out to be?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is the emaciated girl with the missing teeth and loose skin who arrives at Arn's camp and what does he learn from her?

2. What are the signs that lead Arn to think that perhaps the Mango Grove is a mass burial site used by the Khmer Rouge to inter their victims?

3. How is the theme of generosity demonstrated in the scene when the children are finally fed rice in anticipation of their first performance for the Khmer Rouge soldiers?

4. Though at first, the villagers think that the jeeps and trucks pouring into the village is a good sign and means that the war is over, what is the first thing that happens to make Arn realize that the opposite is true?

5. When the current leader of the camp tells Mek that he and band will soon be going somewhere new, they are all terrified that they will be killed instead and that this is just another instance of the Khmer Rouge's euphemisms. However, they are not killed and what happens instead introduces the theme of fame into the novel. What happens in lieu of their deaths?

6. What do Arn and his little brother Munny do after they sneak in to see the American movie and what happens to make them hide?

7. What does Arn tell the reader about his family background within the exposition part of the story?

8. What is the significance of the escape from camp by the boy from Arn's village?

9. When Arn sneaks out to tell Mek about the soldier who forced him to cook the liver of a murdered captive, he is caught by a soldier but does not suffer the dire consequences he is expecting. What happens instead and what significance does it hold for Arn?

10. When Arn finally realizes the true purpose of the band's music, he is shocked and saddened. What is that purpose and how does it transform Arn's idea of the music he plays with the other members of the band under Mek's guidance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The theme of power is one that comes up over and over within the novel's narrative, particularly in relation to Arn's feelings of powerlessness and realizations about power he does indeed hold. Choose three instances when Arn realizes that he does, indeed, carry power, even within his dire situation. Discuss how these realizations help to shape the author's message regarding power.

Essay Topic 2

At many points within the narrative, Arn is close to giving up, but does not. Choose three of these moments, discuss his motivations to keep going, and analyze these instances within the context of the author's message about hope.

Essay Topic 3

Many instances of irony are included in the novel's narrative, including the fact that while Arn has to hide the fact that his parents were musicians to keep from being labeled an imperialist, his life is saved by his inclusion in the Khmer Rouge's musical band. Find three other instances of irony within the novel and discuss each instance's significance.

(see the answer keys)

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