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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 Douglas test John on in the hopes that John will remember Douglas for a long time?

2. What makes Lena furious about the time Leo spent working on the Happiness Machine?

3. Which of the following did Lena not see when she was in the Happiness Machine?

4. What is mother doing while Tom sits by the front door screen?

5. What does Douglas like to think of John as?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Lena become reduced to tears after she uses the Happiness Machine that Leo built?

2. Describe a typical summer night for Douglas' family.

3. How do Tom's fears come to surround him, make him feel, and expand into his imagination?

4. What does the Green Machine offer to Miss Fern and Miss Roberta that is suddenly taken away after the accident?

5. How did Helen overcome her exasperation at the children not being able to accept the fact that she was once young?

6. What do Douglas and his father experience very differently and provide one example of how they see the same event quite differently?

7. What is Leo having a difficult time resolving in his own mind that he discusses albeit briefly with Douglas?

8. Describe, in detail, the major themes focused on within this section of reading.

9. What is the overall tone of the opening of this novel and why do you believe that is the case?

10. What can be said that Leo has tampered with when he follows through on building the Happiness Machine?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kinship and personal connections are often explored throughout the novel. How and why is this an important part of the novel's themes? Do you agree with the way the author portrays these concepts? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

How is the theme of tradition versus change developed throughout the novel? Use specific examples from the text to support your statements. Do you believe the author does a good job at developing this theme? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Clara and Elmira could be described as representing good and evil. Would you agree with this description? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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