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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. How long after Michael awoke from a dream in a house near Lake Ontario, did he have a farewell party for his trip to Ceylon?

2. How old was Philip Ondaatje when he retired?

3. How old was Michael when he realized he had slipped past a childhood he had ignored and not understood?

4. When did Philip Ondaatje die?

5. When did Mervyn's parents discover he had not passed the entrance exams for the university?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Mervyn like when his dipsomania would recur?

2. What myth was told about thalagoya?

3. What transpired when Simon Ondaatje and his brothers would gather on Sunday mornings?

4. Why was Noel Gratiaen sent down from Oxford after his first year?

5. Why was it difficult for Mervyn's father to argue with Mervyn?

6. What did Michael see in a dream when he was staying at a friend's house near Lake Ontario?

7. What was the heat like in Colombo?

8. Why did a Dutch governor's daughter appear as a ghost?

9. What would people do after the races were over for the day?

10. Describe the kabaragoya Michael and the children found dead on the beach.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Michael wrote that his life was shaped by what went on before him. Discuss why Michael believed his life was shaped by what went on before him.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Michael's purpose for writing "Running in the Family" and whether he achieved his purpose.

Essay Topic 3

Michael described Kuttapitiya, the last estate where he and his siblings lived as children. Discuss Kuttapitiya and the Ondaatje's life there.

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This section contains 758 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample