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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. How does The Darter feel about Agnes?

2. What kinds of criminals does Nathaniel meet during his work on the Thames with The Darter?

3. What does Nathaniel's sister do when they realize their mother has lied to them in the section titled "Hell-Fire"?

4. What does Nathaniel remember most about visiting his father's office with him one night?

5. What does Nathaniel call the girl he meets at his restaurant job and starts a relationship with, though it is not her real name?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Olive tell Nathaniel she will stay in touch with he and Rachel after she leaves London, and does she make good on her word?

2. What happens to Nathaniel and Rachel in the beginning of the section titled "Schwer"?

3. Just before Nathaniel's mother departs for Singapore, what does she start telling the children for the first time?

4. What one memorable story does the Moth tell Nathaniel and Rachel about Rose during his time working with Rose in the war?

5. What does Olive insist that Rachel and Nathaniel do with her one evening?

6. What does Nathaniel's and Rachel's brief time alone with their mother just before she leaves for Singapore feel like for Nathaniel?

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

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

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

10. How does Nathaniel describe Olive Lawrence's personality?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay comparing The Darter's decision to marry Agnes/Sophie and raise her daughter with her to the decisions other agents like Marsh Felon and Rose Williams made regarding balancing their family relationships with their work for British Intelligence Services.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing Ondaatje's decision to leave Nathaniel's father, Mr. Williams, as such a vague character. How do you think the author's choice in this regard affects the reader's understanding of Nathaniel's family's dynamic?

Essay Topic 3

Nathaniel is stunned when he discovers the true reason that The Darter is so curt and cold with him when he visits him at the novel's end. Write an essay exploring Nathaniel's range of feelings towards the Darter from the time he spends with him on the Thames in the novel's beginning to his last visit to the Darter at the novel's end.

(see the answer keys)

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