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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The narrator in Chapter 6: "The Fire" describes the City's greatest doctors convening on the patio of what restaurant in Old Town every Sunday afternoon, even during the war?
(a) Srdjan's restaurant.
(b) Lazlo's restaurant.
(c) Dobravka's restaurant.
(d) Banevic's restaurant.

2. What does Natalia's mother teach at the University in Chapter 2: "The War"?
(a) Biology.
(b) Geology.
(c) Art history.
(d) Musical theory.

3. Where does Fra Antun say the teenage boys were coming home from when they were killed by a land mine in Chapter 5: "The Orphanage"?
(a) Zvocana.
(b) Marhan.
(c) Rajkovac.
(d) Carton City.

4. Where does Natalia describe her grandfather's summer lake house in Chapter 6: "The Fire"?
(a) Zvocana.
(b) Zobov.
(c) Zdrevkov.
(d) Verimovo.

5. What age does Natalia say she was when took a dive off her bicycle and "bawled through half an hour of treatment via rakija-soaked cloth" to her knees, in Chapter 2: "The War"?
(a) 10.
(b) 5.
(c) 7.
(d) 12.

Short Answer Questions

1. What animal that was rescued from a circus does Natalia's grandfather take her to see at midnight when she is sixteen in Chapter 2: "The War"?

2. How old does Natalia describe herself in her earliest memory of going to the zoo with her grandfather in the novel's Prologue?

3. What word does Fra Antun use to describe a haunt or "a spirit" in Chapter 5: "The Orphanage"?

4. Natalia's grandfather tells her in Chapter 6: "The Fire," "When men die, they die in fear. They take everything they need from you, and as a doctor it is your job to give it, to comfort them, to hold their hand. But children die how they have been living—in" what?

5. What is the name of the town where Natalia's grandfather has died in the beginning of the novel?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are there portraits of all over the orphanage in Chapter 5: "The Orphanage"? What do these portraits signify?

2. How does Natalia describe the hunt for the tiger that involved Luka in Chapter 4: "The Tiger"? What themes does this story evoke?

3. How does Gavran Gaile describe his supernatural abilities in Chapter 6: "The Fire"? How did he attain these abilities?

4. In Chapter 2: "The War," Natalia comments, "Everything necessary to understand my grandfather lies between two stories." What are these stories and what does Natalia mean by this comment?

5. How would you describe the change in the style of the narrative in the grandfather's story about the Deathless Man in Chapter 2: "The War"?

6. What is symbolized by Natalia's grandfather's ritual visits to the zoo in the Prologue and Chapter 1: "The Coast"? How does this tradition play into the novel's themes?

7. What discussion takes place in Chapter 6: "The Fire" between Natalia and her grandfather when he asks what she will choose to specialize in?

8. Discuss the setting of the novel. Where is the story set? What clues in the narrative indicate the setting? What time period does the story take place in?

9. Why are the diggers digging in the vineyard in Chapter 3: "The Diggers"? How does the objective of the diggers relate to the novel's themes?

10. How does Natalia discover the location of Zdrevkov in Chapter 5: "The Orphanage"? Why is this location important to Natalia?

(see the answer keys)

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