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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. What is Sue's hobby?

2. Where does Jack go after refusing to strip to be examined to play the sex game?

3. Who gives a science fiction novel as a birthday gift?

4. What color swimsuit does the sunbather wear?

5. Who is upset about the delivery made to Jack's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Jack and his sisters do for fun on the night their parents argue in Chapter 1?

2. Who is present during Father's final heart attack and why is it initially unnoticed?

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

4. Why is Tom tired of being a boy?

5. What happens to the garden after Father's first heart attack?

6. What was Jack doing and why does he run off at the end of Chapter 2?

7. What happens when Tom points out his bully to Jack?

8. What does Mother talk to Jack about one morning when she awakens him?

9. Where does the family celebrate Jack's birthday and why?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the roles transferred by Mother to Julie and Jack. What effect does this transfer have on the family unit as a whole?

Essay Topic 2

What is the primary theme of The Cement Garden? How does the author present this theme? How does the theme develop throughout the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Define rising action as an element of plot. Discuss in detail the rising action in The Cement Garden. How did it flow? How did the rising action add to the suspense of the story, or did it?

(see the answer keys)

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