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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the stanza of the poem that opens Chapter 10, what has become a "meringue of dust"?
(a) Words.
(b) Ideas.
(c) Concrete.
(d) Feathers.

2. What does Shawn do at the end of the dream about Ally?
(a) Smile the biggest smile ever.
(b) Soar off into the universe holding Ally by the hand.
(c) Begin to cry.
(d) Walk off into the sunset with Ally.

3. What happens to Shawn and his father after his father finishes speaking in Chapter 16?
(a) They breathe in unison.
(b) They lock eyes.
(c) Shawn's father releases their thumbs.
(d) Tears run down both of their cheeks.

4. After the fight, who tells the strangers that they need to leave the yard?
(a) Paul.
(b) Cindy.
(c) Ally.
(d) Lindy.

5. Who is going to watch Paul's team in the tournament?
(a) Paul's friends.
(b) Mom, Cindy, and Cindy's friends.
(c) Mom and Cindy.
(d) Cindy, Ally, and the rest of her friends.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the interview of Earl Detraux on the Alice Ponds Show, what is his quality of life like currently?

2. What seems to fall off of the computer screen in Chapter 14?

3. Why does Shawn mention women in a Maxfield Parrish painting?

4. When his father comes into Shawn's room, perhaps to kill him, how does Shawn feel?

5. What does Shawn call the robin that he sees on the window sill on Christmas morning when he is six years old?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which characters are going to Spokane in chapter 13 and why is it significant that they are going?

2. What is in Shawn's father's bedroom that is reminiscent of the virtual ride through the cosmos at the science center and why is this significant?

3. After he sees his father's appearance on The Alice Ponds Show, why does Shawn say that he is floating in an ocean of negativity?

4. While Shawn has a doozy of a seizure during the end of the Alice Ponds show, what does he experience?

5. What is Sydney McDaniel's definition of parental love, as offered on The Alice Ponds Show?

6. Why does Paul grab Cindy by the shirt front and pull back his fist to hit her?

7. What are some of the things in Chapter 10 that Shawn remembers about his mother from over the years that make him feel loved?

8. Paul and Shawn's mother have opposite views about Sydney, Shawn's father. Who does Shawn agree with and what is his opinion of his father?

9. What is Shawn's opinion of the role of memories and "being known for who you are" when someone dies?

10. What did Shawn's father do at the Pacific Science Center when Shawn was eight years old?

(see the answer keys)

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