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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. In Chapter 10, what does Hortense hear in the attic over her head?

2. What is the name of Celia's father?

3. What time were Gilbert and the other West Indian RAF volunteers wakened in Chapter 12?

4. What does Queenie's family operate?

5. Where did Queenie say her husband was in Chapter 15?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the worst hardship Gilbert had to put up with when he went into the RAF?

2. Who raised Hortense and why?

3. Why did Gilbert struggle to find a place to leave when he returned to England, and how did he finally find a place?

4. Who were Hortense's parents?

5. Why do the Smith's move away?

6. In Chapter 10, what sound does Hortense hear once she is in bed, and what is the noise?

7. When Gilbert returned from the war, where were his siblings?

8. What did Hortense do when she left her government upper school?

9. Why was Hortense not able to get a job at the Church of England school in Kingston?

10. In Chapter 14, why were some Black GIs going to Nottingham instead of Lincoln to meet some girls?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

India is under English rule during World War II. What is the political situation in India during World War II? How does colonialism affect India and its citizens?

Essay Topic 2

What a reader knows about events and characters is determined by the point of view in a book. What is the point of view in the book? How does the point of view influence what readers know about events and characters? How does it help readers connect with and understand characters?

Essay Topic 3

The climax in a novel is the highest point of tension and a turning point. What is the climax of Small Island and why is that incident the climax?

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