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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. After turning off the wireless, what time do the children finally fall asleep?

2. Before the final attack, what does Nat mistake the swarm of gulls as?

3. What is Nat doing as the story comes to a close?

4. When Mrs. Hocken hears droning during dinner, what does she think it is?

5. While collecting supplies, what reason does Nat realize the birds have for not attacking him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Nat feel a sense of admiration for the birds?

2. How does the radio music change during the attacks, and what does this signify?

3. Why doesn’t Nat feel bad about stealing supplies from the Trigg farm, and how much does he gather?

4. Why happens that leads Nat to realize the necessity of keeping a fire burning in the kitchen chimney at all times?

5. Why does silence fill the Hocken house after the third attack, and what does this mean?

6. What is Nat doing as the story comes to a close?

7. How have the farm animals, on both the Hocken and Trigg properties, been affected by the attacks?

8. Why does Nat decide to take his family with him to the Trigg farm in search of supplies?

9. What does Mrs. Hocken chide Johnny about during dinner in the story’s final section, and why is this ironic?

10. When Nat leaves the house for the first time to gather supplies, what does he notice about the birds?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The story's setting in an isolated English coastal town is critical to the plot. Do you believe this is so? If so, how does the setting of the story ultimately affect the plot, especially in terms of isolation? If the setting is not critical to the plot, why not? Explain how setting the story elsewhere would not affect the plot.

Essay Topic 2

What is the initial response toward the bird attacks by the authorities? Why do they respond in the way that they do? What suggestions does Nat have for dealing with the birds? Are the birds ever dealt with? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

What signs that something is amiss does Nat notice early on in the story? Why does he notice these things when no one else does? How does Nat's ability to notice these things ultimately affect the fate of his character?

(see the answer keys)

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