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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 happened to the money JJ's father had given him after winning his big hand of poker?

2. What activity was Ava known for doing often as a child?

3. What does Lana tell Sylvia about what is wrong with Ava?

4. What does Ava say when Sylvia asks her to leave JJ's house with her in Chapter 26?

5. What is one of the things Lana does on her day off?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lana tell Sylvia about what is happening with Ava in Chapter 29?

2. In Chapter 27, what does JJ remember about what happened in his childhood after his father won a big hand at poker?

3. When JJ calls Ava in Chapter 19, how does she realize her feelings for him differ from her feelings for Henry?

4. In Chapter 27, what does JJ remember about doing together with his father when he was a child?

5. What does Ava do when she visits the reservoir with JJ in Chapter 34 that is dangerous and unexpected?

6. What errand does Sylvia take Lana with her to do in Chapter 22 that is related to Marcus?

7. What memory about burning trash in a barrel as a child does JJ share with Ava at Simmy's in Chapter 20?

8. What does Jimmy Patterson try to do for Devon in Chapter 30?

9. What does Lana suggest that she and Sylvia do together in Chapter 29 to calm themselves a bit?

10. What is Ava's impression of James Martin, a man from her mother's past?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Sylvia continues to speak with, and eventually forms a bond with, Marcus, even though she has never met him in person and had no previous relationship with him before he randomly dialed her number from jail?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay exploring why Ava decides to leave JJ's house with Henry in Chapter 38, immediately following his failed suicide attempt. What did her actions portend about the future of hers and JJ's relationship?

Essay Topic 3

What do you think Sylvia means when she tells Frank Ferguson "There's no getting beyond some things" (353)? Write an essay explaining your answer, taking into account both Sylvia's and Frank's fraught relationships with their own children.

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This section contains 798 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample