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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. How old is Jack when men show up at his house with a delivery?

2. Who gives up teeth brushing to rebel?

3. Who finds Mother dead?

4. Who volunteers to accompany Mother on her trips to the shops?

5. Which character is two years younger than Jack?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the characters Jack and Julie and their growth throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

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