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 is NOT a quality of the object dropped by the man that ends up in Malcolm's possession?

2. How many visitors appear at the business owned by Malcolm's parents at the start of the novel?

3. The title of Chapter 6 is Glazing what?

4. Who is Lyra's mother?

5. What piece of information does Malcolm tell his parents about Hannah in Chapter 6?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the fate of Robert Luckhurst?

2. To whom does Malcolm first voice his concerns about the visitors inquiring at The Trout Inn about the priory and an infant?

3. Describe Malcolm's character.

4. Describe the inn owned by Malcolm's parents.

5. In what way does Malcolm learn about the true manner of Robert Luckhurst's death?

6. What is the impetus for Lord Nugent's loss of stature?

7. Who turns out to be the main mastermind behind The League of St. Alexander?

8. What is the impetus behind the removal of Malcolm's elementary school principal?

9. What method does Lord Asriel use in order to escape from his pursuers at the end of Chapter 10?

10. Who is Miss Carmichael?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sensory details are used frequently by Pullman in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used by the author serve the author’s creation of vivid characters.

Essay Topic 2

Write a critical essay about Philip Pullman's novel Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage while using the critical power theory lens of Marxist theory. Use textual evidence to back up your strong, specific claim regarding the novel's treatment of issues such as socioeconomic status, hierarchies, wealth, class, and any other issues related to Marxist theory that can be found in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the reasons why Philip Pullman's novel Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage uses a third person omniscient narrator. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what is the author's intended effect on the reader?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 810 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample