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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. How does Hanna address Michael?

2. As of Part 3, Chapter 7, how long has Hanna been in prison?

3. What does Michael say that illiteracy is?

4. What sentences did the other defendants receive?

5. What is Michael's daughter's name?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the prison warden tell Michael about Hanna and her time in prison?

2. What does Michael receive at the beginning of Chapter 6, and why does this cause him great joy?

3. In Chapter 17, what is the atmosphere in the courtroom at the beginning of the sentencing?

4. Describe the situation that happens at the restaurant in Chapter 15.

5. Describe the prison warden, and the exchange she and Michael have when Michael comes to the prison and finds out Hanna has committed suicide.

6. What decision does Michael struggle with at the beginning of Chapter 4, and why?

7. How do the Michael's feelings about the trial become "awakened" in Chapter 3?

8. What does Michael decide to do for work, and why?

9. Describe the driver Michael hitches a ride with in Chapter 14.

10. How does Hanna respond to Michael's questions about the trial and their relationship?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

While Hanna is in prison, Michael resurrects his practice of reading to her. How does this simple act define their relationship? What does it symbolize? How is it connected to Michael's idea that Hanna has advanced from dependence to independence?

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the novel Michael mentions the images of Hanna that stay with him, like a "mental projector." Give examples of some of the images that Michael mentions, and describe why those images might stay with him. Why might the author include this visual imagery, and what does it symbolize in the context of the relationship between Hanna and Michael?

Essay Topic 3

Michael's family makes brief appearances in the novel. At the end of Part 1, Chapter 7, Michael notes that he feels as though he is saying his "final goodbyes" to them, although no one is going anywhere. Why might Michael have said that? What does his family symbolize? What, perhaps, were the author's intentions of having a young, teenaged Michael so emotionally estranged from his family?

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