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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 Mack try to save money when business at the mall begins to slow down?

2. Who is Jambo?

3. What does Ruby do when Mack strikes her with the claw-stick?

4. What bothers Ivan about the ashtray sold in a nearby mall store?

5. Why does Ivan love art?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the X's that Ivan draws on his painted jungle wall?

2. What is Ivan's plan for getting Ruby out of the mall?

3. Why was Ivan able to survive the transition from the jungle to a human habitat while his sister died?

4. How does Ivan's appearances at the mall as a young gorilla compare to his experiences at the mall as an adult gorilla?

5. Why does Ivan draw?

6. How do the animals know that a new animal is arriving at the mall?

7. How does Ivan react to Ruby's first solo act in Mack's show?

8. What does Stella mean when she says, "Humans can surprise you sometimes"?

9. How does Ivan convince George and Julia to post his sign on the mall billboard?

10. Why is Ivan puzzled by the fear that most humans have of gorillas?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What prompts George to risk his job in order to post Ivan’s art on the billboard? Which character or characters help him make that decision and how do they convince him to risk his job for an animal? What do George’s actions tell you about his personality?

Essay Topic 2

How does Ruby change the lives of the other animals in the mall? How does Ruby’s arrival affect Stella? How does Ruby’s arrival affect Ivan and Bob? Why do you think animals of different species would want to protect each other?

Essay Topic 3

How do Ivan’s emotions change throughout the course of the book? What do you think causes this change? Why do you think the picture of the angry gorilla on the mall billboard bothers Ivan? Do you think Ivan changes his mind about gorillas and anger? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,326 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample