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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 geographer define ephemeral?

2. What does the flower in the desert know of men?

3. If all humanity were to stand upright and crowd together how much space would they take up, according to Chapter XVII?

4. There would be two lamplighters who would be able to rest for most of the year. Where do they live?

5. In the rose garden, the little prince has to face a difficult fact about himself. What is it?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the little prince find the lamplighter less ridiculous than the other solo inhabitants?

2. The little prince has learned that what is essential is invisible. How does he apply this to the mad scene of trains rushing this way and that?

3. When the little prince arrives on earth he immediately meets the snake. The conversation with the snake foreshadows the end of the book. Explain the use of foreshadowing. What tension does the snake's presence create?

4. What does the little prince face on earth?

5. The little prince does not have the kind of thirst which the pilot has; what kind of thirst does the little prince have?

6. How is the shift of perception, the growth and movement of the protagonist, set in to motion in the chapter where the little prince discovers the rose garden?

7. For the geographer, what is of consequence?

8. After visiting the six asteroids, the little prince has learned many things. In his last visit he seems to have regret that he has left his ephemeral flower all alone. Why doesn't he return? Why does he continue his journey?

9. How does the shift of perception come to completion in the relationship between the fox and the little prince?

10. Why is the little prince overcome with sadness as he stands in the entrance to the grand rose garden?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The adults in the book want solid things. The geographer calls them "eternal things." Children are portrayed as being drawn to "ephemeral things" which the geographer defines as "in danger of speedy disappearance." One of the things the little prince must learn is how to love something that will someday be gone. Discuss some places in the book where the little prince suddenly understands more about loving something that is in danger of disappearing.

Essay Topic 2

Responsibility is a major theme in the book. The author is making a distinction, however, between responsibilities that are real, caring for something that you love and that needs you, example: the little prince and his rose, to responsibilities which are egocentric and absurd, caring for something which is completely unconnected to you and does not need you, example: the businessman and his stars.

Write a short essay using these examples, or choose examples of your own, contrasting the two types of responsibilities and how they differ.

Essay Topic 3

The fox says, "it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye." Write an essay on the meaning of this line and how the story illustrates this philosophy.

(see the answer keys)

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