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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 puts lotion on the sunbather?

2. What does Jack do when the person he sees in the window calls to him?

3. Who is the first to tell someone that Mother has died?

4. What is distracting Jack from realizing his father's condition as the two work on a project together?

5. What color swimsuit does the sunbather wear?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Discuss the dialog between Julie and Jack when Julie tells him that Mother has died.

5. Why is Tom tired of being a boy?

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

7. Describe the social life of Jack's family.

8. Why, in Chapter 2, does Jack begin to avoid Mother?

9. Why did Jack fake being sick when he was 8 and what happened when he got home?

10. How do the siblings tell Tom that Mother has died?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Discuss the exposition of The Cement Garden.

Essay Topic 3

There are four points of view in which literature is written: first person, third person objective, third person limited, and omniscient. Which point of view does the author use in this book? Is this the most effective point of view for this story? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 636 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample