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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. Where did the shoot-out of 1922 occur?

2. Where does the boy tell his father in Chapter 2 that he would like to go?

3. When does Tony McIlhenny disappear?

4. What does Brother Regan teach the boys at the school in December of 1948?

5. What is distinct about Larry McLaughlin's character?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why is Una's death seen as an outlet for the boy's mother?

3. Describe Crazy Joe.

4. Who is Tony and what happened to him?

5. Describe the events surrounding the distillery and what happens to it.

6. What happens to Larry McLaughlin?

7. How can we see in Chapter 2 that the belief in the supernatural is a powerful force in Northern Ireland during this time?

8. What happens to Frances and Francis?

9. Describe the narrator.

10. How does the boy get rid of the rat problem?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

If this story had happened in America, how might it change? What details would be different? What historical events in America might have affected the story? How might the characters behave differently?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of silence in the novel.

1.) How and why does Larry McLaughlin stop talking? How does it affect the family secret?

2.) How and why does Brigid stop talking? What does this reflect on Larry's own silence?

3.) How and why does the boy's mother stop talking? How does this affect her inner turmoil?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Aunt Katie and the boy's mother.

1.) Why does the boy's mother react negatively toward Katie?

2.) Compare and contrast the women's behavior toward the boy narrator.

3.) Ultimately, they both experience the loss of the same man. How does it affect each of them?

(see the answer keys)

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