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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. To whom does Cece stay close no matter what after she returns home from the hospital?

2. The audiologist gives Cece a little box with what items attached to it?

3. What is NOT an adjective Cece uses to describe the pouch that the audiologist uses when Cece first tries her new hearing aid?

4. What visual metaphor does Bell use to represent the over-the-top signing that some people "do AT" (104) Cece?

5. Who is the first character in the narrative to display an empty speech bubble due to Cece's perspective?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Cece says that she makes "many discoveries about lip-reading" (31), what are three of the seven discoveries she lists?

2. How does Cece feel about learning sign language when the idea is first presented to her by her mother?

3. What sleepover party activities does Cece describe as being really fun?

4. Discuss how the theme of appearance versus reality is depicted in the scene when the kids in Cece's new neighborhood turn the radio louder for her.

5. How is the theme of family bonds depicted within Cece's return home from the hospital?

6. Discuss how Bell communicate Cece's hearing impairment to the reader before Cece knows it herself within the narrative?

7. Though Cece only briefly attends a school for children with hearing impairments, she learns a lot. How does the author use illustrations to augment the reader's understanding of the lessons Cece learns?

8. Discuss the symbolism of the on/off switch on Cece's hearing aid.

9. What are the visual signatures that Cece Bell uses to depict the imagined activities of Cece's alter ego?

10. With what illness is Cece diagnosed and what does the doctor say about it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the author's focus on the theme of transformation in the novel Cece Bell's graphic novel memoir El Deafo. What message is the author sending about change and about one other theme of your choice?

Essay Topic 2

What kinds of dysfunctional friendships are depicted within El Deafo and what is the author's ultimate message regarding the nature of true friendship?

Essay Topic 3

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within Cece Bell's graphic novel memoir El Deafo. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the book.

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