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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. When did Doris leave for England?

2. What was the name of the last estate that Michael and his siblings lived on as children?

3. How many cows did Lalla and Rene have?

4. What type of vehicle did Mervyn drive when he nearly killed the three older children and himself?

5. What was the name of the school nurse who was in charge of Michael and the other boys his age?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Lalla come to Kuttapitiya when Michael and his family lived there?

2. What did Doris love about Mervyn, even after the divorce?

3. What did Doris do when she was leaving Mervyn and he threw the car key into the tea bushes?

4. Michael recorded sounds of the night in the jungle when he was in Ceylon. What did he hear when he played the tape back in Canada?

5. What did Doris coach the three older children to do when Mervyn lapsed into one of his alcoholic states?

6. How did Lalla's father throw caution to the wind when he married a Dickman?

7. How did Mervyn deter Lalla from ravaging the garden at Kuttapitiya?

8. How did Mervyn nearly kill his three older children?

9. What did a fortune-teller predict when Doris left Ceylon in 1949?

10. What happened to the eggs that Willie Gratiaen imported from Australia?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Michael said that in Ceylon all classes of people gambled. Discuss the role of gambling in Ceylon.

Essay Topic 2

Mervyn had an obsession with trains. Discuss why Mervyn's train rides became notorious.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Michael's purpose for writing "Running in the Family" and whether he achieved his purpose.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 772 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample