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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. Who is the officer interested in talking to Stephen about that is missing from the public eye?

2. Who falls ill in Stephen's family?

3. What is Stephen able to do that makes the truck driver extremely grateful to him?

4. What does Stephen continue to work on, especially regarding Julie?

5. What does Stephen notice as a change in his parents when he visits them after attending the subcommittee meeting?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the young man at the subcommittee meeting believe that learning written languages at an early age is not a good idea?

2. How are Stephen's parents affected by the loss of Kate?

3. What does Stephen discover about Charles when Thelma gives him directions to where Charles is in the woods?

4. Why does the driver of the truck want Stephen to write down two notes?

5. Why does the handbook excerpt say that it is acceptable to bribe children for good behavior?

6. How does the headmaster respond when Stephen tells his story about Kate?

7. Why did Thelma move with Charles to the countryside?

8. What did Stephen become interested in when his mother had insisted that he take a nap in the middle of the day as a child?

9. When Morely gives Stephen the book, what does it reveal about the government, subcommittees, and the actual research?

10. Why does Stephen want to get out of the Prime Minister's car?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe some of the settings for The Child In Time. What is the overall setting? Be sure to include geography, time period and any pertinent popular culture events. Why did McEwan choose to use these places in The Child In Time?

Essay Topic 2

Julie and Stephen are two of the most active characters.

Part 1) What is their relationship? How do they co-exist and how do they interact? What is similar about them and what is different?

Part 2) What are some events that Julie had a direct influence upon? What are some events that Stephen had a direct influence upon?

Part 3) Which character offers support to the group? Which one is stronger, and why?

Essay Topic 3

The government plays a pivotal role in maintaining the status quo and upholding certain expectations of etiquette and power dynamics. Who epitomizes this in The Child In Time? Who questions this? How is rebellion expressed and how is it squashed?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 985 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample