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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. What does D ask one late night when she comes to the narrator's home?

2. Of what is Tash convinced about Sly?

3. What does the narrator say is the effect of Tash's music?

4. What does Neeka's group share?

5. Why do some people take on D as a foster child?

Short Essay Questions

1. What shocks Neeka and the narrator while listening to music and preparing for Tash's welcome home party? What do they learn about D?

2. What does Tash look like when he comes into the visitation area and how does he act?

3. What does Neeka's family do while visiting with Tash and what does Miss Irene say about his lawyer? What does Tash tell her?

4. How does Miss Irene react to the photographer in Chapter 15?

5. What does the narrator's mother give her for her birthday?

6. Who was Tash's music teacher and what did he think of Tash's playing?

7. What does Tash ask Jayjones and what does Tash say is the first thing he is going to do when he leaves prison?

8. What do Neeka and the narrator do when they come home after being with D in Chapter 11?

9. What does Neeka say she wants to do when she grows up?

10. What did Sly and a friend of his do to Tash and Randall?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

D reveals how she loves Tupac because she feels he knows what extreme hunger is like and what it is to go hungry because you don't have enough money. D's friends are shocked that D had such an impoverished upbringing. Neeka assures D that her mother will always have food for D, and D is grateful.

1. Why do you think in a country as rich as America there are still people who don't have enough to eat? Discuss your opinion in depth using examples from the book and your own life.

2. Given the fact that the narrator's mother works long hours to support them and where they live, why do you think the narrator and Neeka are shocked to find out about D's life? Discuss your opinion in depth using examples from the book and your own life.

3. Discuss in depth the following statement: Every human being has the right to enough food to eat.

Essay Topic 2

The narrator doesn't know who her own father is, either. Mama expresses regret for the narrator not having a father. Some days Mama looks sadly out the window, and the narrator can tell she's thinking of what could have been.

1. Do you think most of the characters in this book regret something in their past? Discuss your opinion in depth using examples from the book.

2. How do you think not knowing her father has affected the narrator's life and her feelings about herself and others? Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

3. Do you think dwelling on the past and what might have been can negatively impact the present? Why or why not? Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Miss Irene mildly objects to her son Tash's "fabulous" and outrageously effeminate behavior, wishing to spare her younger children from his influence. Tash only wishes to be who is he is and not hide. This creates a moment of tension in the narrative. But in the end, Miss Irene's love for her son overcomes her objections. Tash's injustice is borne more from homophobia than racism, providing another dimension to the discussion of discrimination.

1. Do you think Tash's behavior influences his younger brothers and sister? Why or why not? Use examples from After Tupac and D Foster to illustrate and support your answer.

2. Discuss your agreement with one of the following statements, using examples from the book to support your discussion:

Tash behaving as he does indicates he is emotionally and mentally healthy for accepting himself as he is.

Tash behaving as he does is inconsiderate of his mother's feelings and a negative example for his younger siblings.

3. Discuss the mental and emotional effects on a person who has to hide who he/she is. Use examples from After Tupac and D Foster to illustrate and support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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