NAME: ____________________________

A Separate Peace
Test
A. MATCHING

Match each term/description with the best answer.

1. _____ Gene
a) the one game Finny despised
2. _____ Phineas
b) peculiar; eccentric

3. _____ Devon c) a talented athlete and leader

4. _____ A. Hopkins Parker d) narrator of the novel

e) humidity; heat
5. _____ Blitzball
f) required one jump from the tree by
6. _____ Badminton the river

g) unspoken
7. _____ Patch-Withers
h) substitute Headmaster for the
8. _____ Lepellier summer

i) loner and social outcast

9. _____ “Ss” Club
j) official holder of the school
10. _____ Enfeebled swimming record

k) to entice; trick into something

11. _____ Inure
l) Finny’s summer invention
12. _____ Inveigle
m) the school the boys attend
13. _____ Tacit
n) to become used to something
unpleasant
14. _____ Idiosyncratic
o) weakened
15. _____ Sultriness

Extra Credit: What is the name of the summer club that Finny and Gene invented?
B. True or False

Circle T for true; circle F for false.

1. T or F : The main portion of A Separate Peace takes place during 1943.

2. T or F : John Knowles was a teenager when he wrote the novel.

3. T or F : Phineas ends up joining the Navy.

4. T or F : The teenage boys were in sinecure positions while at school.

5. T or F : The “blitzball” chapter was very funereal.

C. Multiple Choice. Choose the best answer.

1. One evening instead of going to dinner Gene decided to _____?

a. go back to the beach c. go to the tree and jump alone
b. wear Finny’s clothes d. study

2. Gene picks a fight with Quackenbush when he calls him _____?

a. maimed c. guilty of fratricide
b. a liar d. weak

3. When Finny phones Gene he concerned that _____?

a. Gene might have a new roommate c. he will not be able to come back to school
b. he will never play sports again d. Gene has a new best friend

4. Gene finds pleasure in running when _____?

a. he breaks his last year’s time in the mile c. the Headmaster compliments him
b. he gets his second wind d. Finny encourages him

5. The torch to open the Winter Carnival games is _____?

a. a French textbook c. a copy of the Illiad
b. a rag dipped in cider d. Finny’s tie

6. The Winter carnival ends when Gene _____?

a. sees that Finny is exhausted c. runs the decathlon
b. gets a telegram from Leper d. breaks the one-mile record
D. Important Quotations
Read the following quotations and tell who the speaker is, what the scene was, and what importance
this quote has to the novel.

1. “That seemed very likely, one too likely, although with all my thought about these stairs the
exceptional hardness had not occurred to me. It was surprising I had overlooked that, that crucial
fact.”

2. “I couldn’t help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying
even your best friend a little."

3. “I’m not fool, you know… You always did take me for a fool, didn’t you? But I’m no fool any more.”
 4. “”I don’t care,” he interrupted in an even voice, so full of richness that it overrode the others. “I
don’t care.””

E. Short Answer

Answer each question. Make sure to answer all parts.

1. What do you think the most important theme in the novel is and why?

2. Explain the significance of the shift from the summer session to the winter session.

3. Explain the significance of Gene’s sarcasm.

F. Short Essay (5 to 7 sentences):
Gene is, of course, the character who struggles most to find his peace. Explain the process through
which he moves to find his separate peace.
Essay:
In at least three paragraphs, answer the following essay prompt. You may use your book. A good essay
would include at least two quotations from the text to support your answer.

Do you blame Gene for Finny’s death? Why or why not? Support you position with examples from the
text.