The following Critical Thinking Questions will appear on your Summer Reading tests.  You will be allowed to bring in written materials (notes or outlines) with you the days of the test, but you may NOT bring in an already written essay to be copied.  The best essay question answers are those that are organized or well-thought out and include text material (quotes, etc.) to back up your opinions, ideas, and answers.

• Around the World in Eighty Days:

1. Passepartout left his original employer because he did not respect the man.    Why does he place so much emphasis on respect?  List and explain three examples of Passepartout’s great respect for Fogg.

2. The subplot of Phileas Fogg and Aouda, the Indian princess, is truly a love story.  Prior to their wedding, how does Fogg outwardly express his love for Aouda?  Why does it take him so much time to show her his true feelings?

• Catcher in the Rye:

1. Holden repeatedly states that he hates people who are “phonies,” yet he regularly lies to or deceives people.  Illustrate two examples where Holden himself proves to be a “phony.”  What does this hypocritical view of the world say about the way he feels about himself?

2. Explain the book's title The Catcher in the Rye?  In Chapter 22, how does the title tie into Holden’s conversation with his sister Phoebe?

• A Doll's House:

1. In Act 1, Mrs. Linde illustrates Nora as “a child.”  Is this assessment of Nora’s developmental state a true evaluation of her character?  Explain.

2. What does Torvald’s fascination with beauty and appearances imply about his personality?  Do his attitudes change at all over the course of the play?

• Dracula:

1. Discuss three of the appearances Dracula makes throughout the novel. What does Stoker achieve by keeping his title character in the shadows for so much of the novel?

2. Discuss the characters of Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra. How are the two women similar? How are they different? Why, in your opinion, is Lucy the first to fall under Dracula’s spell?

• The Five People You Meet in Heaven:

1. Throughout the story, children are drawn to Eddie.  List three examples of how children played a role in Eddie’s life that he comes to discover in heaven.

2. Briefly describe three of the five encounters that Eddie has in heaven.  Use examples from the story to describe what Eddie may have learned about himself or his life from those three guides.

• The Jungle:

1. Author Upton Sinclair describes the terrible conditions the animals of Packingtown are forced to live in.  Compare the animals conditions to those of the immigrants, such as those highlighted in the book, who work and live in urban cities during early America.

2. Although the book is set in an urban, city environment, why does Upton Sinclair entitle it the jungle?

• Flowers For Algernon:

1. Explain Charlie's development as a person from before he began the study by Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur to when he checked himself in to a home for disabled adults.  Despite the wealth of knowledge that he gains (and then loses), was he better off living as a "normal" person.  Why?

2. Compare and contrast the characters of Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss. How do their reactions to Charlie’s new intelligence differ? How do their overall approaches to science differ?

• A Raisin in the Sun:

1. While race plays a central role in the play, what aspects of the story is really an American tale, extending to all races, not just African Americans?

2. Explain a possible reason(s) why Walter Younger acts so moody living in a household run by women.  Does he eventually find stability in his relationship with his wife, mother, and sister?

• Treasure Island:

1. Why do you think Stevenson chooses the perspective of a boy, Jim Hawkins, to narrate this tale of Treasure Island?

2. Compare Captain Smollett’s leadership style to that of Long John Silver. What does the way the men lead their crews in very different way reveal about their character?

• Watership Down:

1. Theme is the lesson or moral that the author wishes to leave you with after reading the story.  Choose a theme the author presents you with in the story and use three examples to illustrate it.

2. The animals in the story have very humanistic qualities—names, emotions, ability to speak and make decisions.  But what role do humans play in the story?  How is mankind represented by the author?  Why?

• White Fang:

1. List each of White Fang’s masters.  How do each of his masters differ from one another and explain how they affect him?

2. Although the story of White Fang is about a dog, some issues in the book appear to be a metaphor for humanity.  Choose two of the novel’s events and explain what they say about human society?

2. Dorothy and her friends learned a number of life lessons on their journey through the Land of Oz.  What, in your opinion, was the most important?  Why?

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