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 Nat worry about when he turns the wireless off?

2. How many journeys does Nat make between the farm and his home, loading up his car with supplies?

3. How does Nat react to the crashing sound, which ends the droning?

4. What excuse does Nat give when the morning news announcement fails to broadcast?

5. What does Nat do with the Triggs’ bodies before returning home?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Nat feel about the army sending reconnaissance forces to battle the birds?

2. Why doesn’t Nat feel bad about stealing supplies from the Trigg farm, and how much does he gather?

3. How has the radio announcer’s voice changed in the 6 o’clock broadcast?

4. Who is Jim, and how was he killed?

5. Why does Nat decide to take his family with him to the Trigg farm in search of supplies?

6. What does Mrs. Hocken chide Johnny about during dinner in the story’s final section, and why is this ironic?

7. How have the farm animals, on both the Hocken and Trigg properties, been affected by the attacks?

8. What is Nat doing as the story comes to a close?

9. Why happens that leads Nat to realize the necessity of keeping a fire burning in the kitchen chimney at all times?

10. Why does silence fill the Hocken house after the third attack, and what does this mean?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is unique about the past of the character Nat Hocken? How does his past affect him in the present? Does this set him apart from other characters in the story? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

In your opinion, why does the story have an ambiguous ending? Is this merely to elicit a reaction from the readers, or does the author have a deeper purpose? Is there an entirely different reason? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

The story's setting in an isolated English coastal town is critical to the plot. Do you believe this is so? If so, how does the setting of the story ultimately affect the plot, especially in terms of isolation? If the setting is not critical to the plot, why not? Explain how setting the story elsewhere would not affect the plot.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 861 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample