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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 tries to lighten the conversation in the pool hall when someone gets upset?

2. Why is Tom crying in Chapter 10?

3. After his mother's death, what does Jack do each morning and afternoon?

4. What does Jack slam with a rock when he takes an angry walk through the garden?

5. What object is the focus of Jack's nightmares?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Tom get to play in girls' clothing without getting picked on by his friends?

2. Explain the incident involving a frog in the garden.

3. What is Derek's solution to covering the rotting smell? What do the kids tell him the smell is?

4. Three weeks after Mother's death, Jack goes into the cellar to see the trunk. What are his thoughts as he visits the cellar?

5. How is Tom's baby-like behavior affected by Julie's willingness to treat him like one?

6. How does Jack get a terrible sunburn?

7. What strange experience happens to Jack when he goes to the shops to spend his birthday money?

8. Describe Jack's recurring nightmare.

9. How does the book end?

10. What is the conversation Derek has with the siblings over tea, after sealing the cracked cement?

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

Irony is the contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. There are three types of irony: verbal, situational, and dramatic. Identify and discuss two examples of irony in the book. Which type of irony is it? What is expected and what actually occurs with your examples?

Essay Topic 3

Name and define the five types of conflict. Which conflict prevailed in this novel? Select a different type of conflict and explain how the story would have differed under that particular type of conflict.

(see the answer keys)

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