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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 gave Natalia's grandfather his cherished copy of The Jungle Book?

2. How many days did it take the clinic staff where Natalia's grandfather died to contact Natalia's grandmother and inform her of his death in Chapter 1: "The Coast"?

3. What intern does Natalia's grandfather describe as a "brilliant little Hungarian fellow who has paid a lot of money to study at our University, and who doesn’t speak a word of the language" in Chapter 2: "The War"?

4. What is the name of the digger's son that Natalia tries to get sent home from the site because he has fever in Chapter 3: "The Diggers"?

5. What is the name of the turtle that Frau Antun asks Natalia and Zora if they've met yet at the orphanage in Chapter 5: "The Orphanage"?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. Describe the narrative style of The Tiger's Wife. Is the story related from a first, second, or third-person point of view? Is the narrator involved in the action of the story?

4. What incident involving being detained by customs officers at the border does Natalia describe in Chapter 6: "The Fire"?

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

6. How is the departure of Gavran Gaile described in Chapter 6: "The Fire"? What does he remind Natalia's grandfather of before he leaves?

7. Describe the author's language style in The Tiger's Wife. How would you describe the wording and stylistic devices used in the Prologue and Chapter 1: "The Coast"?

8. 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?

9. What is the significance of the novel The Jungle Book in The Tiger's Wife? Who carries this book?

10. Discuss the ethnic tensions that are seen in The Tiger's Wife. What do these tensions tell you about the setting and characters in the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. When was this book published? Who are the main characters in the story? What does The Jungle Book symbolize to Natalia’s grandfather? Who gave him the book? What does the lack of the book in the grandfather’s personal effects represent to Natalia?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the different rituals surrounding death that are explored in The Tiger’s Wife. What are the origins and history of these rituals? How do these rituals compare with the rituals of death in your own culture? What are the benefits of these rituals, as seen in the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

In the novel’s Epilogue, Natalia says of the Galina tiger, “Everything lies dead in his memory, except for the tiger's wife, for whom, on certain nights, he goes calling, making that tight note that falls and falls. The sound is lonely, and low, and no-one hears it any more.” In what ways does Natalia’s metaphoric meaning refer to the various tigers that appear in the narrative? In what ways does that meaning also refer to the various characters and their lives, particularly their thematically central struggles to live their own lives?

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