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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. Who is Jimmy Parsons?

2. What does Thomas say Big Joe used to eat?

3. Who beats up Thomas?

4. What is one way that Molly is different when the boys see her on Christmas Eve?

5. What do Charlie, Thomas, and their mother on the day of the burial do after it gets dark?

Short Essay Questions

1. Of what does the dead crow remind Thomas?

2. What is life like when Grandma Wolf comes to live at the boys' home?

3. What effect does Charlie taking Bertha have on his relationship with Molly?

4. Where do they bury Bertha and why kind of funeral does she receive?

5. Why is Thomas glad to be working at the same farm as Charlie?

6. What does Big Joe ask his mother about heaven and what is her response?

7. What punishment does the Colonel mete out to the boys and how does their mother amend the punishment?

8. At the novel's opening, what does Thomas Peaceful want to remember this night?

9. What is the story of the harvest mouse?

10. What happens when the Colonel arrives at the cottage the morning after Charlie steals Bertha?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are a number of interesting questions raised by Private Peaceful. Questions that Morpurgo most likely wants readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Morpurgo' agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Morpurgo' probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

4. Research the life of Morpurgo and see if/where his life may have influenced his writing.

Essay Topic 2

Big Joe had meningitis when he was a baby and the doctors said that he would never be of any use to anyone. Despite this fact, Big Joe did indeed get better over time, just not all the way. He knew things, and was very caring, generous, and loving, but he simply couldn't understand everything he saw. While most people called Big Joe crazy or stupid, Thomas and Charlie and their mother just called him special. They also judged people by their reactions to Big Joe. If someone ignored him, called him stupid, or talked to him like he was an idiot, then they knew that that person wasn't worth knowing. If, on the other hand, people treated Big Joe well, and could get along with him, then the rest of the family would like them just for that.

1. There have been many incidences of doctors making predictions even in modern times that do not come true. Do you think the doctors should have voiced the prognosis they had of Big Joe? Why or why not? Use examples from your own life and Private Peaceful to support your answer.

2. Discuss the importance of Big Joe's personality compared to his intellectual capacity. Use examples from your own life and Private Peaceful to support your answer.

3. Do you think Big Joe's family placed too much emphasis on how people reacted to Big Joe? Why or why not? Use examples from your own life and Private Peaceful to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Thomas sees a dead crow hanging from the fence. The crow reminds Thomas of his father's death. Thomas's father used to take Thomas out into the woods with him in the mornings to cut timber. Thomas would play in the woods while his father worked. One day, Thomas was playing in the woods and a tree almost fell on him. Thomas' father yells at him to run, but Thomas is scared and can't run. Thomas' father runs to him and throws him out of the way of the falling tree. The tree crushes Thomas' father, killing him instantly. At the funeral, Thomas keeps his terrible secret. If Thomas had only run when his father told him to, his father would still be alive. Thomas feels that he killed his father.

1. Discuss the implications or the situation of a father taking a very young boy with him when cutting timber, a very dangerous job even for adults. Why do you think the father did this? Why might the mother have allowed it? What does this say about the difference between the early 1900s and the present? Use examples from your own life and Private Peaceful to support your answer.

2. Discuss some of the ways in which Mr. Peaceful's death affected Thomas for the rest of his life. Use examples from your own life and Private Peaceful to support your answer.

3. Discuss the differences with which Thomas' family handled his father's death compared to how it might be done today. For example, is it more likely now that if a very young boy witnesses his father's death the boy would be taken to counseling? What other differences might occur? Use examples from your own life and Private Peaceful to support your answer.

4. Why do you think the dead crow reminded Thomas of his father's death? Use examples from your own life and Private Peaceful to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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