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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. Who gives up teeth brushing to rebel?

2. Who threatens the bully in Chapter 4?

3. What is the family "game" that the siblings play?

4. Who wishes to change genders?

5. What does Jack notice about the person he sees in the window when he returns home in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Jack release tension in the garden at the beginning of Chapter 4? Why does he stop?

2. What does Jack notice about his mother when he sees her from a distance in Chapter 2?

3. What do Julie and Jack do with sand and how long does it take?

4. What birthday request does Jack make that gets denied by his mother?

5. What, specifically, do Jack and Julie do to provide Mother with an eternal resting place?

6. When and why does the sexual game the three siblings play stop?

7. What does the family do to celebrate Jack's birthday?

8. How does Jack's acne problem affect him socially?

9. When the children are in the garden discussing what to now that Mother has died, what specifically do they discuss?

10. What do Jack's parents argue about in Chapter 1? What does his mother demand and what is his father's reaction?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the difference between tone and mood in literature? How are they similar? How are both communicated to a reader?

Essay Topic 2

A protagonist has heroic qualities and an antagonist has villain qualities. Discuss the protagonist in The Cement Garden. Discuss the antagonist in the story as well.

Essay Topic 3

What is a flashback? Identify and discuss one example of flashback from this novel. How does the author signify that it is a flashback? How does the author demonstrate that the flashback ends?

(see the answer keys)

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