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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 Thomas usually forgo while at school?

2. What does Charlie convince Thomas to do for him concerning Molly?

3. What happens to Bertha?

4. What do Molly and Charlie both do?

5. Why was no one worried about Big Joe earlier in the afternoon of Bertha's burial?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Thomas and Charlie's poaching experience.

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

3. What happens when Thomas and Charlie arrive at school on Thomas' first day of school?

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

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

6. How do Charlie and Thomas thwart Grandma Wolf's attempts to get rid of the mice?

7. How does Thomas' father die?

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

9. What does Charlie do when he sees Thomas in a fight with Jimmy Parsons and what happens to the boys who are fighting?

10. Who searches for Big Joe and where do they find him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Private Peaceful belongs to the war novel genre. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the war novel genre.

2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.

3. What do you think is the difference between a war novel and a historical novel or a mystery?

Essay Topic 2

The men and officer of the firing squad do not want to kill Charlie, but they know their orders. After Charlie's death, everyone mourns him. Thomas is glad to find that Sergeant Hanley was killed, but his happiness is short lived. That horrible man has finally gotten what they all felt that he deserved, but Thomas is upset that it came too late to save Charlie. He hopes that Charlie knows that Hanley is dead, as it might give him a slight comfort. After saying good bye to his brother for the last time, Thomas feels as if a part of him has died with Charlie.

1. Do you think the men in the firing squad should have obeyed the order to kill Charlie? Why or why not? Use examples from your own life and Private Peaceful to support your answer.

2. Do you think Hanley being killed was a just exchange for the sergeant basically being responsible for Charlie's death? Why or why not? Use examples from your own life and Private Peaceful to support your answer.

3. What do you think is the difference between socialization in the early 1900s and the present time that a soldier would be shot and killed for disobeying a dangerous and stupid order? Use examples from your own life and Private Peaceful to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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