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. What does Jessie do when she hears voices in the Clifton bathroom?

2. Why does Jessie walk on the grass while leaving Clifton?

3. What does Jessie do when the lights turn on while she is escaping?

4. Whose phone number does Jessie put in her pocket in Chapter 5?

5. Who tells Jessie that visitors can rent the haunted trees?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 1, how does Jessie describe her family's house?

2. Why does Jessie's mother leave the house in the middle of the night in Chapter 1?

3. What is strange about bathrooms to Jessie after she leaves Clifton?

4. After watching Clifton from the outside point of view, what does Jessie think of people in 1996?

5. In Chapter 5, what does Ma worry about when it comes to the health of the residents of Clifton?

6. What upsets Jessie about the middle school student visitors she meets?

7. What does Ma give Jessie before she leaves Clifton?

8. In Chapter 9, what does Jessie realize about the trees she thought were haunted her entire life?

9. In Chapter 7, what makes Jessie feel better about leaving Clifton?

10. When Jessie sees the Clifton school house from the outside in Chapter 9, what happens?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the role of suspense in this novel. Consider how the author creates it as well as what it does to develop the characters and plot.

Essay Topic 2

Consider the changes between 1840 and 1996. Which changes are largest? What things are the same? What do these similarities and differences reveal about modern times?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze "Running Out of Time" as a thriller. How does this novel fit within the description of the genre? Are there other genres that may represent this novel better? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 802 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample