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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 Jimmy do before he is found dead?

2. What event is introduced at the local community hall?

3. What does the boy write down in the exercise book?

4. Who is Charlie McCabe?

5. Why does the boy not tell his mother everything he knows about Eddie's death?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Sergeant Burke say he beat up Frank and why does he apologize for it?

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 Katie's family refuse to attend Meave's wedding?

4. Who is Danno Bredin?

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

6. What does Crazy Joe know about the mystery surrounding Eddie's death?

7. What causes the boy to realize his mother doesn't care what he reveals to anyone?

8. What does Father Nugent talk to the boy narrator about and why does it make him uncomfortable?

9. What is Sergeant Burke's purpose for going to the boy's mother and revealing all that he knows of Eddie's death?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are several symbols discussed in the novel. Discuss the use and meaning of disappearance, death, fire, and tradition.

Essay Topic 2

Who do you think is ultimately responsible for Eddie's death?

1. Is it the hand that pulls the trigger or the hand that orchestrates it to happen?

2. Are multiple people to blame?

3. Is one person more guilty than another?

Essay Topic 3

Would it have been better if the mystery of Eddie's death was revealed earlier in the novel? How does the slowly unfolding mystery add to the boy narrator's character development? How does it shape him to become the man he grows up to be?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 686 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample