![]() |
Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Upon realizing that Arn is teasing him by putting a stone on his chest instead of the customary lump of sugar, Mek tells Arn that he has a treat for him. What is the treat?
2. When another child captive tells on Arn for lying to increase his number of work breaks, what do the Khmer Rouge soldiers impose as Arn's punishment?
3. The boy who runs away from camp and escapes amidst a flurry of gunfire by the Khmer Rouge is a former boyfriend of which of Arn's siblings?
4. Which of the following is NOT a topic of the Khmer Rouge songs the children are taught to play with their musical instruments?
5. What is the stringed instrument called that Arn learns to play in the band?
Short Essay Questions
1. When a soldier from Arn's home village comes to camp, what does he offer Arn in exchange for some rice and what does Arn learn as a result of accepting his offered deal?
2. What is the significance of the escape from camp by the boy from Arn's village?
3. How does Arn describe his village at the opening of the novel before the Khmer Rouge arrive?
4. How is the theme of generosity demonstrated in the scene when the children are finally fed rice in anticipation of their first performance for the Khmer Rouge soldiers?
5. Why do the Khmer Rouge burn everyone's clothes and all of their material belongings?
6. Though at first, the villagers think that the jeeps and trucks pouring into the village is a good sign and means that the war is over, what is the first thing that happens to make Arn realize that the opposite is true?
7. What happens to the pregnant woman and her husband who are walking next to Arn within the mass exodus of all cities? What lesson does Arn learn from seeing what happens?
8. When Arn sneaks out to tell Mek about the soldier who forced him to cook the liver of a murdered captive, he is caught by a soldier but does not suffer the dire consequences he is expecting. What happens instead and what significance does it hold for Arn?
9. What are the signs that lead Arn to think that perhaps the Mango Grove is a mass burial site used by the Khmer Rouge to inter their victims?
10. Before the arrival of the Khmer Rouge in his village, how does Arn feel about the war he knows is being fought outside his town and what does he spend most of his time doing?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Desensitization is a coping mechanism Arn uses often in order to retain his sanity in the midst of the horrors all around him. Describe and analyze three of these instances and use them to explain how the author uses them to help the reader keep rooting for Arn even though at times he commits atrocities that in normal circumstances would seem unforgivable.
Essay Topic 2
The epilogue of the novel provides the reader with information about the real man on whom the novel's fictional story is based. Discuss the author's choice to include this epilogue and its intended effect on the reader within the context of the whole novel.
Essay Topic 3
Though at the start of the novel, Arn enjoys communing with nature, whether he is frogging with Hong or playing in the fields with other friends, as the narrative progresses, his feelings about nature and the earth begin to change. Trace the changes surrounding the author's presentation of the earth motif and analyze the effect of these changes on the reader.
This section contains 1,458 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
![]() |