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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. When Sophea shows up at the camp, what reason does she give for their aunt sending her to look for Arn?

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

3. The Khmer Rouge tell the band that they are going on a trip and everyone is expecting to be killed. Instead, what happens?

4. What sport do the rich kids play in the yard of their school in the first part of the book?

5. When the five-year-old boy that reminds Arn of his little brother sneaks out night after night, returning only in the morning, what does Arn eventually find out he is doing?

Short Essay Questions

1. When a new mail carrier comes into camp, he shares some news with Arn. What part of the news does Arn doubt and what is the significance of this doubt?

2. 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?

3. Why do the Khmer Rouge burn everyone's clothes and all of their material belongings?

4. 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?

5. What happens to the pregnant woman and her husband who are walking next to Arn within the mass exodus of all cities? What lesson does Arn learn from seeing what happens?

6. How does Arn fix the problem of the new music teacher's apathy and what effect does this solution have on the band's members?

7. 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?

8. After Arn is chosen by Khmer Rouge leaders to play music in their band, Arn sees there are positive results and negative results of his being chosen. What are they and what does this show about one's fate under the rule of the Khmer Rouge?

9. 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?

10. When the evacuees are finally allowed to stop to set up camp in groups of around a thousand people each, what do Arn and his little sister Sophea discover about the Khmer Rouge's philosophies when they sneak around listening to the soldiers' conversations?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Desensitization is a coping mechanism Arn uses often in order to retain his sanity in the midst of the horrors all around him. Describe and analyze three of these instances and use them to explain how the author uses them to help the reader keep rooting for Arn even though at times he commits atrocities that in normal circumstances would seem unforgivable.

Essay Topic 2

The motif of music is a prominent characteristic of the novel's narrative. Describe and analyze at least three instances of music references in the novel, providing a comprehensive analysis of the author's purpose in using music as a motif.

Essay Topic 3

The novel is littered with the use of sensory details throughout the narrative. Discuss the author's purpose in including the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and tactile sensations of Arn's experiences.

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This section contains 1,544 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample