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. What form of writing is The Veldt?

2. Who says: “My God we need a breath of fresh air”?

3. Where do George and Lydia believe Wendy and Peter are?

4. How do the children tell their parents that they won’t be home for dinner?

5. What are the children doing when Dr. McClean arrives?

Short Essay Questions

1. George threatens to turn the entire house off for a month, how does Peter react?

2. What does George’s reaction to Lydia’s fear signify?

3. How does Dr. McClean say the nursery feels?

4. Before the African veldt, what did the children conjure in the nursery?

5. Explain Dr.McClean’s comment that children prefer santas over scrooges.

6. How is dinner served to George and Lydia?

7. What does George find of his in the corner where the lions where feeding?

8. Why does George feel perspiration on his brown when he is in the nursery?

9. Why does Lydia want George to look at the nursery?

10. Lydia says about the nursery: “It’s supposed to help them work off their neuroses in a healthful way.” What does this mean? Has it worked?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Define plot and include the definitions of the most important elements of a plot. Do all novels have a plot? Why or why not? Write a brief synopsis of the plot of The Veldt, identifying where the various elements of the plot occur (Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement). Do you find it difficult to identify the plot? Why or why not? What about the various elements of the plot? Give a brief synopsis of any important sub-plots.

Essay Topic 2

Bradbury’s work often makes a political statement about the future of our society.

Research and give a brief biographical sketch of Ray Bradbury. Do you think there is always some of the author's own life in his/her novels? Why or why not? Give examples. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Bradbury's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Bradbury's probable agenda concerning that idea.

Essay Topic 3

Foreshadowing is used in almost all works of fiction.

What is foreshadowing? Identify three instances of foreshadowing in The Veldt and what they foreshadow? How does foreshadowing contribute to a story's suspense? Are there any incidences that you thought foreshadows a future event, but it does not do so?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 775 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample