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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 does Arthur McCash tell Nathaniel that Nathaniel's mother is doing?

2. Where do Nathaniel and his sister go shortly after their mother leaves for Singapore?

3. What was Nathaniel's work for the Foreign Office referred to generally as?

4. What story does Arthur McCash tell Nathaniel he must give him?

5. What story does The Moth tell Nathaniel about his mother during the war in the section titled "A Table Full of Strangers"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who helps Nathaniel and Rachel during Rachel's first episode with epilepsy, and what does that person do?

2. Why do Nathaniel and Rachel refer to Walter as The Moth?

3. Where does Arthur McCash find Rachel and who is she with when he looks for her in the Bark Theater?

4. How do Nathaniel and Rachel feel about becoming boarders at their new schools after their mother and father leave for Singapore in Chapter 1?

5. What does Nathaniel get in trouble for, that generations of boys before him have also done, at his boarding school in Chapter 1?

6. What does Nathaniel remember about Rose packing her steamer trunk for her trip to Singapore?

7. What does Nathaniel especially remember about his visit to his father's Unilever office?

8. What does Nathaniel tell Agnes to try to conceal the truth of his family situation?

9. How does The Moth react when Nathaniel and Rachel turn up unexpectedly at the house in London when they should be at school?

10. What story does Nathaniel's mother tell her children about the family of roofers who worked on her childhood home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Nathaniel's conduct when he secures a job at Britain's classified archives relate to Rose's activities as a covert agent during and after WWII? Write an essay comparing and contrasting Nathaniel's and Rose's professional conduct and aims.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay exploring how Ondaatje uses Nathaniel's experiences at The Criterion and at the restaurant in World's End to help the reader understand his maturation as a young adult, and to offer glimpses into what kind of an adult he may become.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay exploring how The Moth's explanation of the word "schwer" relates to the larger theme of the long, destructive, and lingering effects of war on individuals, families, and nations.

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