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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. How does Jimmy die?
(a) Broken neck.
(b) Gunshot wound.
(c) Heart attack.
(d) Stroke.

2. When Katie goes to England to attend her daughter's wedding, why does the rest of her family refuse to attend?
(a) Meave is pregnant.
(b) It is too far to travel.
(c) The groom is black.
(d) The wedding is on a workday.

3. After the boy's mother develops depression, what does she begin to have visions of?
(a) Eddie.
(b) Death.
(c) Fire.
(d) Ghosts.

4. Why is the boy punished in 1954 by the Dean?
(a) Not doing his homework.
(b) Badmouthing the teacher.
(c) Cheating on the test.
(d) Skipping the retreat.

5. Who also visits the boy's parents as he is there in Chapter 6?
(a) Sergeant Burke.
(b) Crazy Joe.
(c) The dead soldier's father.
(d) Tony.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to the boy's mother after she stops taking the medicine?

2. What version of the boy's story does he burn?

3. What reason does the boy's mother give for not taking her medicine?

4. Who was McIlhenny involved with before he marries Katie?

5. What happens two days before the boy visits his parents in Chapter 6?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Crazy Joe such a valuable character to the story of Eddie's disappearance and death?

2. The boy's mother is saddened throughout the entire novel, but why does her depression set in after her grandfather dies?

3. Why does the boy's mother begin to treat him unkindly?

4. What happens to Jimmy and Claire?

5. What does Sergeant Burke reveal about Eddie's death and Tony's involvement?

6. Why does the boy's evening with Irene prove to be a disappointment?

7. What information does the boy's mother find out after Sergeant Burke dies that makes her angry?

8. How does the boy conclude that it was his mother who tipped off McIlhenny?

9. Why does the boy narrator find it important to his relationship with his mother that he keep her secret?

10. Describe the relationship between Tony, Katie, and the boy's mother.

(see the answer keys)

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