View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. For what does Sergeant Burke apologize in 1957?

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

3. Which character dies in 1959?

4. Who also visits the boy's parents as he is there in Chapter 6?

5. Why is the boy's mother afraid of her visitor?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the boy's mother say that upsets Katie?

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

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

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

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

6. What is important about the boy's reading of the story of Eddie's death in Irish?

7. Why does the boy's mother turn hostile toward him in Chapter 6?

8. In what ways are the problems of Northern Ireland just beginning as the problems the boy faces are now ending?

9. Who is Danno Bredin?

10. How is the boy's mother's interpretation of the story of Sean and the baby sock a reflection on her own relationship with Tony McIlhenny and her role in Eddie's murder?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance of disappearance and death as themes in the novel?

1. Are these themes important to keeping the secret a mystery to the boy?

2. How does the story of Eddie's death change for the boy as more people disappear or die?

3. How are the stories told by the characters (Sean, Francis, Frances, Brigid, Claire Falkener, Grenaghan, etc.) all related to this theme of death and disappearance?

Essay Topic 2

Which characters in the novel would be considered guides for the boy narrator? What do they teach him? Are they positive or negative mentors?

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)

This section contains 766 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample