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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. Where does Ma work?
(a) A clothing store in the city.
(b) As a housekeeper at a hotel.
(c) The brewery up the hill.
(d) Ma does not work.

2. What object does the narrator use to tell the reader the size of the fish in the lake as mentioned on Page 19?
(a) Clumps.
(b) Cigarettes.
(c) Crescents.
(d) Leaves.

3. How does Ma describe carrying Manny in her "stomach" (26)?
(a) Ma says that Manny was "growing, heart ticking like a time bomb" (26).
(b) Ma says that Manny's, "eyes were wet, black-holey - no fear there, no disgust, no pity" (27).
(c) Ma says that Manny was "mixed up" (26).
(d) Ma says that it "rained down silver jingles" (27).

4. What does Lina bring with her to the narrator's house?
(a) A pink slip from work.
(b) Money.
(c) A message from the boss.
(d) Groceries.

5. How does Ma feel about the phone ringing in Chapter 9, TALK TO ME?
(a) Scared.
(b) Annoyed.
(c) Happy.
(d) She shows no emotion.

Short Answer Questions

1. What tool do the boys use to smash the tomatoes?

2. Why does Lina, Ma's co-worker, come to the narrator's house?

3. In the last paragraph of Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME, what does the narrator imply the brothers "need" (51)?

4. On the last page of Chapter 11, NIGHT WATCH, what is Paps sad/worried about?

5. Why is Ma worried about the brothers' bath in Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME?

Short Essay Questions

1. Having the knowledge of Ma's grueling work schedule and unstable behavior, why might the narrator say after Ma awakes confused, "It was a Sunday, but no one told Ma that" (5)?

2. At the start of Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME, how does Paps show an expression of regret when he returns to the family's home?

3. How does Paps coerce Ma into not being so irate about about the new truck?

4. How does the narrator feel when Paps and Ma discover him after the narrator nearly drowns in the lake?

5. What may the Quote provided before the Title Page relate to you about a theme or important motif of the novel?

6. Why is the narrator confused when Ma asks him why he is unable to swim in Chapter 5, LAKE?

7. What personality traits and behaviors are both implicitly and explicitly conveyed through the description of the brothers' behaviors in the opening Chapters? How do you come to these conclusions?

8. What kind of support does Lina provide to the narrator's family when she comes to visit?

9. How does the reader know that Ma was a naive teenager when it came to sex as explained in Chapter 6, US PROPER?

10. Why does Ma not want the narrator to get older like his other brothers?

(see the answer keys)

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