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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. When do meetings resume at the subcommittee that Stephen is glad to attend so he will have some structure to his life?

2. What does Stephen call the Prime Minister when he is confronted about his refusal to see the Prime Minister?

3. In what kind of a room is the subcommittee's meeting on education held?

4. Where does Stephen sit in the car that comes to pick him up for his meeting with the Prime Minister?

5. Who does Stephen's mother decide to marry after she sees the child in the window?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Stephen discover about Charles when Thelma gives him directions to where Charles is in the woods?

2. How does Stephen respond to the Prime Minister's secretary's request for a second meeting?

3. Why does the driver of the truck want Stephen to write down two notes?

4. When Morely gives Stephen the book, what does it reveal about the government, subcommittees, and the actual research?

5. What does Stephen purchase for Kate's birthday and what does it signify to him?

6. What did Stephen become interested in when his mother had insisted that he take a nap in the middle of the day as a child?

7. Why does the young man at the subcommittee meeting believe that learning written languages at an early age is not a good idea?

8. How are Stephen's parents affected by the loss of Kate?

9. When Stephen talks about his bicycle memory near the sea, how do his parents respond?

10. How does Stephen work through his feelings about Julie and her leaving him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Through Stephen, McEwan offers a lens to view the government and corruption via the committees. He describes the officials in The Child In Time as self-serving. Describe the typical government worker in The Child In Time. Do you think this is realistic and characteristic of today? Do you think the issues that McEwan discusses are still relevant today and if so, in what ways?

Essay Topic 2

McEwan uses more than one iteration on the theme of disappointment. Identify at least two characters who either embody or experience disappointment then cite an example to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the power of the press in The Child in Time. Is the press objective? Why or why not? What kind of media bias do they reveal? How are they influenced?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,114 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample