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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. The normal procedure for a Birthmother is to take the pills for how many months before getting ready to produce her second Product?

2. What adjective does the receptionist at the Nurturing Center use to describe Sophia?

3. What is a behavior that Claire's son does NOT display during naptime at the Nurturing Center?

4. When Claire shows up again at the Nurturing Center, what reason is she given for being turned away?

5. What type of body of water borders the community in which Claire grows up?

Short Essay Questions

1. From what building does Claire avert her eyes on her walk from the Birthmother Dormitory to the Fish Hatchery, and why?

2. What sets the birth of Claire's Product apart from those of the other Birthmothers in her dormitory?

3. Upon finally seeing Marie on the boat, what questions arise in Claire's mind?

4. What criterion does Claire give regarding how the Fish Hatchery had been chosen as her workplace and how does the criterion differ from others who work at the Fish Hatchery alongside her?

5. Recognizing that she cannot ask for Sophia outright at the Nurturing Center, what does Claire say to the receptionist when she arrives?

6. What are the elements of Claire's plan to find Sophia, her acquaintance who has a job at the Nurturing Center where Claire's son is being held, and how does it work out?

7. How is the event of Claire's first encounter with her son portrayed by the author?

8. Why is Claire so terrified when she is first told that she has been decertified as a Vessel?

9. How is the boat's cook Marie described by the narrator?

10. What is the consequence of Claire's Task being different from those of the other Birthmothers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the author's message regarding perseverance within the novel Son.

Essay Topic 2

Like many other bildungsroman books and movies, Lois Lowry's novel Son presents the loss of innocence as a theme. Trace Claire's loss of innocence over the course of the novel's narrative. What is the author's purpose for depicting Claire's, as well as other characters', loss of innocence throughout the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the significance of the novel's title and of the repeated references to sons throughout the narrative. What is the author's purpose in including the motif of male children, both in the title and throughout the narrative of the novel?

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