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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. Who does Caravaggio say the English patient worked for?

2. In a Sikh family, what is traditional for the oldest brother to do?

3. Why doesn't Hana believe Caravaggio about the English patient's identity?

4. What does Madox do in the middle of a sermon about war?

5. Why was the town of Naples evacuated?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Kip do in response to being upset?

2. Why would the English patient need to be particularly careful around Geoffrey Clifton? What was significant about his character?

3. How does Hana resolve the issue of her father's death?

4. In the beginning of Chapter 10, how does Kip prove that he is intentional about making his relationships with others solid?

5. How does Katharine die?

6. Describe the hiding game that Hana and Kip play in the dark.

7. Why would Kip share with Caravaggio the story about dismantling a bomb in a pit?

8. Do you think Caravaggio was justified in forcing the English patient to talk about his identity? Why or why not?

9. Do you find that Kip becomes more or less likable as the novel comes to an end? Why?

10. What impact does the death of Lord Suffolk have on Kip? How does it affect his relationship with Hana?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Ondaatje incorporate the concept of man versus self in his novel? Which character do you think is the best example of man versus self and why?

Essay Topic 2

What effect does World War II have on Ondaatje's novel? How does it add to the story? What impact does the war have on characters, and how might they be different had the story been set during a different time?

Essay Topic 3

What is the purpose of a foil in literature? Describe one character in Ondaatje's novel that you believe is a foil of another character. Why do you think Ondaatje may have created characters in his work that emphasize each other's qualities?

(see the answer keys)

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