Mosquitoland

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which accurately describes the narrative point of view of this novel?

A) First person, present tense

B) First person, past tense

C) Third person, present tense

D) Third person, past tense

2. Which is the most accurate description of Mim’s father?

A) His disappointment over his relationship with Eve causes him to try to protect himself by distancing himself from Mim.

B) He is a controlling person who sees Mim’s individuality and creativity as evidence of rebellion and mental health conditions.

C) His love for Mim makes him afraid for her and sometimes makes him jump to conclusions about how best to keep her safe.

D) His unquestioning belief in Mim keeps him from seeing what a real danger to herself she might be if she stops taking her medication.

3. Over the course of the novel, how does Mim’s understanding of her mother change?

A) She realizes that her mother probably never really wanted to be a mother.

B) She realizes that her mother has been using her to upset her father.

C) She realizes that her mother is more creative and fun than she remembers.

D) She realizes that her mother is much sicker than she understood.

4. What detail does Mim often note in the titles of the main parts of the book?

A) Time

B) Distance

C) Map coordinates

D) Cardinal direction

5. How does Mim’s relationship with her own pain change during the novel?

A) At first, she is in such deep denial that she does not even realize she is in pain, but eventually she cannot ignore it.

B) At first, she uses her pain as a way to get sympathy from others, but as she matures, she learns to have sympathy for herself.

C) At first, she thinks her pain makes her special, but later she learns she needs to confront her pain and work through it.

D) At first, she translates her pain into anger, but her journey teaches her to understand what she is feeling more accurately.

6. What does the lipstick Mim symbolically wears on her face have in common with her vision impairment and her “misplaced epiglottis”?

A) All three are physical manifestations of her emotional state.

B) All three are reminders of the time she spent with her mother.

C) All three are coping mechanisms to deal with her anger.

D) All three are imaginary and do not actually exist in the real world.

7. Which character most clearly represents what Mim could become without the support of the people around her?

A) Ahab

B) Poncho Man

C) Walt

D) Caleb

8. Where is Mim when she finally confronts the memory of finding out that her father cheated on her mother with Kathy?

A) Sunrise Mountain Rehabilitation Center

B) Walt’s camp in the forest

C) The Ashland Inn

D) Her childhood home

9. Which is the most accurate description of Beck’s attitude toward Mim?

A) Admiring and fascinated

B) Dismissive and distant

C) Romantic and lovesick

D) Protective and affectionate

10. Which statement is most clearly supported by the events of the novel?

A) There is no good reason to take psychiatric medications.

B) Mim’s medication may be doing more harm than good.

C) Failing to take prescribed medication is dangerous.

D) Mim’s medication is just a way for people to control her.

11. Which statement is most clearly supported by the events of the novel?

A) Interactions with peers are an important part of forming your identity in adolescence.

B) Modeling yourself after a parent is generally a bad way to form your identity.

C) It is easy for adolescents to lose their own identity due to peer pressure.

D) Authoritarian parents are a serious impediment to developing your own identity.

12. Which character most clearly demonstrates for Mim that attitude is more important than circumstances?

A) Ahab

B) Beck

C) Walt

D) Arlene

13. Which of the following is the most accurate assessment of the impact of Mim’s self-isolation?

A) It has caused her to believe she is more unusual than she actually is.

B) It has made her psychiatric symptoms much worse than they need to be.

C) It has helped her discover how strong and brave she really is.

D) It has nurtured her talents as a writer and creative thinker.

14. Which most clearly symbolizes the two sides of Mim’s identity?

A) The red sweatshirt

B) The cracked vanity mirror

C) Mim’s letters to Isabel

D) The broken record album

15. Which most clearly conveys the importance of freedom to explore your own identity?

A) Mim’s choice to not report Pancho Man’s assault

B) Mim’s commentary as she explores the record shop in Nashville

C) Mim’s decision to leave the bus in Kentucky

D) Mim’s reaction to Kathy’s arrival in Ohio

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does Mim’s confession to Kathy about her eye demonstrate how much Mim has changed?

2. What is ironic about Mim’s ability to make such accurate character judgments while she is on the road?