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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 the narrator doing as she recalls these events from her past, as a student at Hailsham?

2. Where is the novel set?

3. What book is the narrator reading in chapter 10 that Ruth rudely begins to describe the plot of to her?

4. Who makes fun of Tommy's expressions as he warms up on the sports field with the other boys in chapter 1?

5. What is the secret guard?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the students at Hailsham told they will never be able to do in chapter 8?

2. What change in attitude does Kathy remember noticing in Tommy during their days at Hailsham?

3. What else in chapter 3 does Tommy feel Miss Lucy wanted to tell him about himself and was not able to do so?

4. What often causes Tommy, as a child, to have a fit of temper?

5. What is one of the responsibilities of the caretaker at the Cottages, as Kathy describes in chapter 11?

6. Upon first meeting Ruth, as described in chapter 4, what do Ruth and Kathy do together?

7. What does Tommy reveal to Kathy in chapter 9 that Miss Lucy has told him, causing him to once again begin having fits of temper again as well as ending his relationship with Ruth?

8. In chapter 10, what does Ruth accuse Kathy of being jealous of?

9. What does Kathy do to prepare in chapter 8 for what she believes will be her first sexual experience?

10. Where do Tommy, Ruth, and Kathy go after leaving Hailsham when they are sixteen?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why did Tommy often get picked last for sports teams? How did he react to this slight? Why did Tommy stop working at his art? Who told Tommy his art was not important? Why did this person later tell Tommy that the art was really very important? What does Tommy come to believe is the point of the art the students are encouraged to do at Hailsham? Why does Tommy believe this? How does Tommy react when he comes to realize the truth about the students' are at Hailsham?

Essay Topic 2

What is human cloning? Is it a possibility? What purpose would human cloning serve, as represented in this novel? Would it be humane to treat clones as Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth were treated in this novel? What were the people at Hailsham attempting to prove about the clones? Did their experiment work? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

What are Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth? How do they come to understand the truth of their situation? How much time passes between Kathy's time at the Cottage and her next meeting with Ruth? How does Ruth respond when she discovers that Kathy has become her carer? What do they talk about in the beginning of their reunion? Why do they go to see a marooned boat? Who do they take with them? What does this say about the relationship between Ruth and Kathy now?

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