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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 Jimmy have a hard time getting to school?

2. What does Mama Jean make before packing Jimmy's things?

3. Where does Crab appear from?

4. How long has this gap between intention and action been going on, as the novel begins?

5. Where is Jimmy's mother?

Short Essay Questions

1. What makes Crab nervous when they stop?

2. Where does Jimmy live?

3. What is Jimmy's environment like?

4. What is Jimmy's situation with school?

5. How does Crab explain having been arrested in spite of being innocent?

6. What happens when Jimmy arrives in his classroom?

7. Where does Crab intend to take Jimmy?

8. What does Mama Jean tell Jimmy when he is leaving?

9. Describe Jimmy's departure with Crab.

10. What is Jimmy's relationship with Mama Jean?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of the novel, Jimmy asks Crab what the goal of going to California would be. How important are goals in "Somewhere in the Darkness"? Does a plan need to have a goal for it to be important? Which characters have different beliefs about this question?

Essay Topic 2

Crab's illness makes it impossible for him to play more than an episodic role in Jimmy's life. How else does his illness figure in the book? Is it a symbol or a metaphor? What does it symbolize? What clues does the author give us, that Crab's illness might mean more than just his individual sickness?

Essay Topic 3

Would you recommend "Somewhere in the Darkness"? For what purposes would you recommend "Somewhere in the Darkness", and what kinds of readers would you recommend it for? What other book would you recommend that would cover the same material or tell the same story in a different way?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 507 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample