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

2. What do the Khmer Rouge soldiers lack that makes the soldiers associated with the Prince doubt their power?

3. What does Arn do with the lump of sugar the kitchen girl gives him after she is done with him?

4. 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?

5. What is Arn's solution for helping Siv remember not to hold the flag in front of Arn's face at the end of the dance?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author use the juxtaposition between the kitchen girl's molestation of Arn and the comfort he then seeks within Mek's embrace? What is her purpose in using this juxtaposition?

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. 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?

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

6. 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?

7. 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?

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

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. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the significance of the novel's title and of the repeated references to it throughout the novel. What is the author's purpose in including the theme of "never falling down," both in the title and throughout the narrative of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

The first mention of revolution in the novel occurs on page 24 when a Khmer Rouge soldier mentions it and Arn tells the reader he has not heard the word before. There are many different types of revolution, including social revolutions and personal revolutions. Compare and contrast the revolution undertaken by the Khmer Rouge with the personal revolution Arn experiences by the end of the novel.

Essay Topic 3

The author chooses to represent Arn's voice using an authentic form of dialect used by non-native English speakers. Analyze how this choice affects the reader's understanding of his character, the feelings inspired in the reader about the wartime atrocities he witnesses, and how the theme of redemption is ultimately received by the reader by the end of the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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