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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. Why does Barbara have to turn around and go back to the campus?

2. Who is the leader of these fifteen hundred men?

3. Where does Cedric's mother work?

4. What work release job does Cedric Gillian have?

5. Who asks to see Cedric after reading a story about him in the "Wall Street Journal"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is there an assembly at the beginning of the book?

2. Why does Cedric decide to apply to Brown?

3. Why is it such a big deal that Cedric has handed in his vocabulary cards for the SAT-PREP class?

4. Why does Cedric arrive at school by 6:30 a.m. most mornings?

5. As mid-terms approach, how is Cedric doing at the M.I.T. summer program?

6. What are some things that have happened lately at the beginning of the book that indicate Ballou Senior High is a troubled and violent school?

7. What does Barbara do when Cedric turned two?

8. What preparations has Barbara made for the trip to take Cedric to Brown?

9. How does Rob feel about having Cedric for a roommate?

10. What is Barbara Jennings' financial situation?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 1, Mr. Taylor compares the challenges in Cedric's life to "a race, a long race?" Explain why Mr. Taylor uses the metaphor of a race. Why does Cedric's mother also use the image of a race to describe the challenges Cedric faces? How do the challenges that Cedric experiences compare to a race?

Essay Topic 2

Compare how the phrase "a hope unseen" refers to Cedric's life and how it refers to the lives of immigrants to the United States. What examples does Cedric use in the Epilogue to show this comparison?

Essay Topic 3

At the beginning of the book is a quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Explain what each line of the poem means and how the poem relates to Cedric's life.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 938 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample