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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is the hero of the novel the boy reads in the dark?
(a) Robert.
(b) Rory.
(c) Simon.
(d) Patrick.

2. From where does the title of the novel get its name?
(a) The loneliness of reading alone and the boy's feeling of being alone.
(b) The sadness felt by the boy after being forced to read only at night.
(c) The confusion the boy feels by not understanding what he reads.
(d) The boy's reading of his first book.

3. What information about the family secret does the boy know in Chapter 3 that his parents do not know?
(a) Who killed Eddie.
(b) Where Eddie was killed.
(c) Who the real informer was.
(d) What happened to Tony.

4. What causes the priest to call off Larry McLaughlin's wedding?
(a) Larry isn't ready to get married.
(b) Larry has become insane.
(c) Larry has cheated on this soon-to-be wife.
(d) Larry doesn't want to get married.

5. Who tells the boy's father about Eddie's killing?
(a) The boy's mother.
(b) Katie.
(c) Ena and Bernadette.
(d) Brigid.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 1, where does the boy's mother ask him to take flowers?

2. How does Rory Hannaway die?

3. How does the boy describe how he got rid of the infestation in Chapter 3?

4. Who is the real informer?

5. What novel is the first book the boy has ever read?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Larry McLaughlin?

2. How are superstitions introduced in Chapter 1?

3. Why is the disappearance of Uncle Eddie such a mystery?

4. Why is the boy narrator fond of Aunt Katie?

5. Describe Grianan.

6. What happens to Frances and Francis?

7. Why is the boy uncomfortable with the sympathy he feels for the police after Rory Hannaway's death?

8. Why does the boy try to run away in Chapter 3?

9. What causes the rat infestation mentioned in Chapter 3?

10. How do we see the boy react and respond to his circumstances in Chapter 1 instead of accepting them at face value?

(see the answer keys)

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