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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. As Mother's illness worsens, who maintains the house?

2. Why is Jack told to stop his activity in the beginning of Chapter 4?

3. What does Jack find in the garden in the beginning of Chapter 4?

4. Which child actually brings friends home to play?

5. In which specific extracurricular activity does Julie excel?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Julie tell Jack she imagines will happen between Father and Tom as Father's health declines?

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

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

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

7. Why is Tom tired of being a boy?

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

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

10. What happens when it is Jack's turn in the game he plays with his sisters on the night their parents argue in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the importance of the author's choice of grammatical tense in The Cement Garden. Define the three types of tenses and explain how they are typically identified.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the point of view from which the novel is written. Does this point of view make the story more or less believable? Select a different point of view and explain how this novel would have changed if written from it.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's writing experience and his successes of this book and others.

(see the answer keys)

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