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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. What person are Graciela and the guards waiting for?

2. Before the rainstorm, how long had it been since she washed her hands?

3. Where does the raindrop hit on her body?

4. How many permanent shift supervisors were there at the Little School?

5. Which guard allows them to disregard Bruja's order?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the prisoners hate the word "Senor"?

2. What was Alicia on the early bus to the suburbs?

3. What is the subject of chapter 11, A Puzzle?

4. What does Vaca do just before he brings the prisoners the toothbrushes?

5. Why were high school students taken prisoner at the Little School?

6. How does the bread help to give the prisoners strength?

7. What are the two fierce shadows of Alicia's poem?

8. How can Alicia guess Vasca's mood each day?

9. What happens to Alicia when the raindrop falls on her forehead?

10. After the military visitor comes, where do the prisoners have to brush their teeth?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What coping mechanisms do the prisoners use to deal with their incarceration at the Little School? Examine the following characters' coping mechanisms:

1) Alicia.

2) Graciela.

3) Patichoti.

4) Alicia's husband.

Essay Topic 2

How is living different than simply surviving? Is Partnoy's work a testament to this difference? Why or why not? What attempts does Partnoy make in the Little School to live and not simply to survive? Choose at least three instances in the work where she makes a conscious effort to exist beyond the status quo, despite her horrible surroundings.

Essay Topic 3

Though the prisoners are forced to endure physical torture, they must also endure psychological torture. How is psychological torture different from physical torture? Choose two instances of psychological torture to discuss. How effective is the psychological torture at the Little School? How do the prisoners deal with it?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 498 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample