View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Even though Fidel Castro announces to the Cuban people that they are now free to leave Cuba whenever they want, why is Isabel's mother still especially wary about the trip?
(a) She worries that the family will starve during the trip.
(b) She is pregnant.
(c) She believes that Fidel Castro's announcement is a trap.
(d) She does not think her ill mother will survive the trip.

2. What does Isabel give the fisherman in return for gasoline to power Ivan's family's boat?
(a) Mofongo.
(b) A trumpet.
(c) A coat.
(d) A backpack.

3. For what transgression do the Nazis say they are taking Josef's father into "protective custody" (3)?
(a) For practicing law as a Jewish man.
(b) For continuing to run his tailoring business as a Jewish man.
(c) For writing a newspaper article about the Nazis' violence.
(d) For practicing medicine as a Jewish man.

4. What type of Jewish ceremony do the people on Josef's ship hold during the journey?
(a) A bar mitzvah.
(b) A bat mitzvah.
(c) A naming ceremony.
(d) A bris.

5. To what type of structure does the boy lead Mahmoud and his family?
(a) To a library.
(b) To an abandoned shopping mall.
(c) To a bus depot.
(d) To an abandoned hospital.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who takes on the role of being "in charge of the boat" (81) on which Isabel and her family are traveling?

2. Whose face is featured prominently on the floor of Isabel's boat?

3. What reason does Isabel's father give for forbidding anyone to strike a match even though their boat is about to be hit by a tanker?

4. What words are painted underneath the portrait painted on the bottom of Isabel's boat?

5. Where does Mahmoud's father keep the family's official papers and their money?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is irony employed within the author's choice of the material that lines Isabel's boat?

2. What are the only items that Isabel and the other passengers on the tiny boat have room to bring with them on the journey to Florida from Cuba?

3. How does Mahmoud feel about invisibility?

4. How is the the ship Josef's family boards shown by the author to be paradoxical?

5. What does Mahmoud buy for his little brother Waleed at a shop in the Turkish refugee camp and what does he hope to achieve with his purchase?

6. What is the author's purpose for characterizing the Nazis terrorizing Josef's family as "shadows"? (1)

7. How does Josef feel about invisibility?

8. Why does Isabel feel awe in response to the riots in Cuba in addition to fear?

9. Why does Mahmoud's family choose Germany as a place to run to when they leave Syria?

10. Of everyone in Mahmoud's family, who comes the closest to losing his or her life when the apartment is hit by a missile?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,306 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample