View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. After finding their destination, what does the father wish he had for their cart?

2. After the father and son make cakes, where do they sleep for the night?

3. What covers the city that the father and son explore?

4. The day after the father and son make cakes, who approaches the son?

5. What does the father claim about his memory from his childhood?

Short Essay Questions

1. Recall an example from the first few chapters of the novel that demonstrates the son's concern with mortality.

2. Describe how the father restricts the son from his humanitarian instincts.

3. Analyze the son's dream about the toy penguin.

4. Describe two things that the father and son see along their journey in Chapters 16 through 20.

5. Describe a recurring theme throughout Chapters 16 through 20.

6. Explain what is revealed in Chapter 15 about the father's wife.

7. Describe what happens when the father and son arrive at the father's old house.

8. Describe how the author creates a sparse, bleak feeling at the beginning of the novel.

9. Explain why the father is so overprotective of the son.

10. After traveling through the mountains, explain how the father knows he and his son have reached their destination.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the theme of extinction or "the end of the world." How has near extinction caused humans to act in The Road? Would people really react this way? What are signs that the earth has been mistreated? Are there any signs that the earth is healing itself?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the use of description in The Road. Discuss how the author uses narration, dialogue, and imagery to bring his novel to life, citing examples from the text. Compare the description in this novel to another novel the class has read.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the theme of fear, particularly the father's fear of the boy growing up. Cite examples from the text that demonstrate the father's fears. Why is the father so fearful of the son growing up?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 920 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample