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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. Where does Grandma make Bootsie live?

2. A forlorn Mary Alice informs Grandma of ______________.

3. Grandma says Mrs. Abernathy receives money from whom for her son, but it is not enough?

4. With whom does Mary Alice share a room?

5. Because of Grandma's intimidation tactics at lunch, Mrs. Abernathy will be able to survive for how long?

Short Essay Questions

1. What warning does Grandma give Mary Alice before she leaves her at school? What does this warning foreshadow?

2. How does Mary Alice react to Mildred's plan for getting her dollar from Mary Alice? What does this reveal about her?

3. How does Grandma get back at Old Man Nyquist? Should she have done this? Why or why not?

4. What does Grandma think about Halloween? Why does she feel this way? Why would the reader probably not be surprised by this?

5. How does Grandma defeat Mildred, the bully? What lesson does this teach Mary Alice?

6. How does Mildred go about attempting to collect the dollar from Mary Alice? What does this reveal about Mildred?

7. How has Bootsie changed since he moved in with Grandma? What has led to this change?

8. Where does Mary Alice go directly after arriving in town? What is happening there when Mary Alice arrives?

9. What is theme is strong in this section? Support your response with information from this section.

10. How does Grandma raise money for Mrs. Abernathy? Is this a good tactic? Why or why not?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Epilogue takes place several years later.

Part 1) Describe the Epilogue. What is the purpose of the Epilogue? How does the way in which the Epilogue was written compare to the rest of the book?

Part 2) How has Mary Alice changed over the years? How has the world also changed in such a relatively short period of time? How does the Epilogue wrap up the story that takes place throughout the previous chapters of the book?

Part 3) Is the Epilogue necessary? Why or why not? Is it an effective ending to the story? Why or why not? Is this how you would have ended the story Why or why not? If not, how would have ended it?

Essay Topic 2

Grandma is a unique character.

Part 1) Describe your initial thoughts about Grandma. How did your opinion of her change by the end of the book? Why did your opinion change?

Part 2) What issues does Grandma's behavior bring up? What is her opinion of these issues? Why? How does your opinion compare to hers? Are your beliefs questioned by reading this book? Why or why not?

Part 3) What would the world be like if more people were like Grandma? Would this be a better place? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

The main part of the story ends in celebration.

Part 1) Describe this celebration. How is this celebration important to the people of this town? What other celebrations also take place in this story? Why? How are celebrations an important part of life in this town? Why?

Part 2) How do these celebrations balance out the struggles these people face? How might this have been exceptionally important during the 1930s throughout the United States?

Part 3) How are celebrations important today? What specific holidays are particularly important in one's life today? Why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,170 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample