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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. How often did Ari's mother and aunt write one another throughout the years?

2. In Chapter 4, Section 3, what subject does Ari say that his mother teaches?

3. How long has Ari known Gina Navarro?

4. Who kisses Ari on New Year's eve?

5. In Section 4, Chapter 9, what is the topic of the essay that Dante doesn't want to write?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ari do when Sam and Soledad admire his truck?

2. How does Ari get a dog?

3. What does Ari's mother plan to do for New Year's eve?

4. What does Dante write and tell Ari is his favorite painting and why does he like that painting?

5. What does Ari tell Dante about his brother in Section 6, Chapter 4, when they drive out into the desert?

6. What does Ari ask Gina and Susie to do with him in Section 5, Chapter 31?

7. What is Ari's new truck and what does it look like?

8. At the end of Section 5, Chapter 20, how does Ari decide he is like and unlike his father?

9. What does Ari do in January, February, March, and April 1988?

10. How do Gina and Susie find out the truth about Ari's injuries in Section 6, Chapter 8?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ari's relationship with Dante changes in the novel. How does their relationship change, and how do those changes relate to experiences they share and their growing maturity?

Essay Topic 2

Ari's father changed when he returned from the Vietnam war. How did Ari's father change and how did that affect the way that Ari's father lived his life and his relationships with his family, especially with Ari?

Essay Topic 3

Ari is afraid that Dante won't want to be friends if he really knows who Ari is. What is Ari hiding about himself and why does he think that if Dante knows who he really is, Dante won't want to be friends?

(see the answer keys)

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