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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 the new music teacher is too overcome by his own sadness to teach the children, Arn teaches them himself, instructing them to hit the strings lightly, like the wings of what bird?

2. After the children in the band have had no rice for many days, the Khmer Rouge tell them they are getting a special dinner of banana peels, rice husks, and rotten pieces of food. Arn knows that this is usually the food given to which kind of farm animal?

3. What does the new music teacher give Arn as the reason that he does not care whether he lives or dies?

4. What dance do Arn and Munny perform for the crowd outside the theater?

5. What are the two forms of compensation that the news bearer accepts in return for news about the captives' families?

Short Essay Questions

1. Before the arrival of the Khmer Rouge in his village, how does Arn feel about the war he knows is being fought outside his town and what does he spend most of his time doing?

2. 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?

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

4. How does Arn describe his village at the opening of the novel before the Khmer Rouge arrive?

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. When Arn's curiosity gets the better of him and he finally asks Sombo the reason for his permissiveness concerning Arn's behavior, what reasoning does Sombo provide and what is the author's purpose in portraying Sombo's character in this particular way?

8. When a soldier from Arn's home village comes to camp, what does he offer Arn in exchange for some rice and what does Arn learn as a result of accepting his offered deal?

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Though at the start of the novel, Arn enjoys communing with nature, whether he is frogging with Hong or playing in the fields with other friends, as the narrative progresses, his feelings about nature and the earth begin to change. Trace the changes surrounding the author's presentation of the earth motif and analyze the effect of these changes on the reader.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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