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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. Why does Oskar agree to see Dr. Fein in Happiness, Happiness?

2. What label does Oskar apply to himself during The Sixth Borough?

3. What does Grandma refuse to share with Thomas in Why I'm Not Where You Are?

4. What gift was Thomas given by Anna days before the bombings?

5. How is a famous landmark moved from the Sixth Borough to Manhattan?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the living arrangement between Grandma and Thomas in Why I'm Not Where You Are?

2. What is revealed by the long jump at the beginning of The Sixth Borough?

3. What can Thomas not bring himself to tell Grandma at the end of Why I'm Not Where You Are?

4. How does Oskar Schell meet Thomas, Sr. at the beginning of Alive and Alone?

5. What does Oskar tell Thomas, Sr. over the course of Alive and Alone?

6. What decision does Oskar make at the end of Alive and Alone?

7. How does Oskar overcome a phobia in Alive and Alone?

8. What is happening in Dad's fourth message?

9. What does does Thomas tell his son about his and and his former wife's location at the beginning Why I'm Not Where You Are?

10. What does Thomas learn immediately before the bombing of Dresden begins?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is, at its roots, a study of human yearning for love in the face of brutal cataclysm. In the novel, characters lose each other and find each other in the crucible of tragedy. Write an essay about this in three parts:

Part 1) What is lost to the major character of the novel in the wake of the attack of September 11, 2001? How are existing bonds strengthened in the wake of this tragedy? In this paragraph, discuss the relationships among Oskar, Mom, and Grandma.

Part 2) Write a paragraph about the bombing of Dresden. How does this horrific event of World War II affect the Schell and Schmidt families? Who is lost in this bombing? How does the bombing, in the end, lead to another marriage and the birth of a child?

Part 3) In summation, discuss how a marriage that was destroyed by the memories of Dresden is reunited in the wake of September 11th. Who returns to whom in the aftermath? What characters begin to learn about their roots as a result of this reunion?

Essay Topic 2

The end of the novel is a strangely happy one, though it does not contain anything that concretely resolves the conflicts of the novel. Write an essay about the ending of Oskar's narrative and what it means to him and to the reader:

Part 1) What is the resolution of the quest of the key? Discuss why William Black would need the key and why Dad had it in a vase. Does this resolution, in the end, offer anything illuminating to Oskar Schell regarding his father? How was the journey to this resolution more important than the destination?

Part 2) What understand do Oskar and his mother reach in the final chapter of the novel? What single request does he make of her and what concession does he give regarding her happiness? Does she make any concrete promises him regarding the future?

Part 3) Discuss the fantasy that ends the novel. What alternate reality does Oskar create for his father, beginning with his picture in the Stuff That Happened to Me book? How does this provide the novel with a bittersweet happy ending?

Essay Topic 3

In many ways, a deceased parent will always seem more attractive to the a child sees and argues with every day. Write an essay comparing Thomas Schell, Jr., and Mom, based on Oskar's attitudes toward them. How does Oskar's impression of Mom suffer as a result of Thomas's death? What resentment does he develop towards her, and how does it manifest itself? Conversely, how does Oskar remember Thomas? Do you think that his image of his father has grown unfairly perfect in memory?

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