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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. Why does Manny crawl into bed with his brother at the beginning of the story?
(a) Manny wants to tell them a story.
(b) Manny does not have his own bed.
(c) Manny wants body heat.
(d) Manny is afraid of the dark.

2. What does the word "rappel" most likely mean on Page 25?
(a) "Descend."
(b) "Assimilate."
(c) "Ascend."
(d) "Rise."

3. Why is it unusual that Paps knows how to swim?
(a) Because he grew up away from the water.
(b) Because he has never seen water before.
(c) Because he is from Canada.
(d) Because he is afraid of drowning.

4. What is unusual about the way Paps and Ma are dressed during the brothers' bath in Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME??
(a) They are fully naked.
(b) They are shirtless.
(c) They are wearing very fancy clothes.
(d) They are both wearing boots and heavy jackets.

5. What do the brothers ask strangers to buy them outside the drugstore in Chapter 5, US PROPER?
(a) Cigarettes or whiskey.
(b) Booze and candy.
(c) Gum and cigarettes.
(d) Cigarettes or beer.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the crawlspace, the narrator asks Joel, "It's just going to be like this forever?" (43). What is the narrator referring to?

2. What does Paps say to the narrator as he dries him off in Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME?

3. Why is the Chapter 2 called, NEVER-NEVER TIME?

4. What state do Ma and Paps travel to to get married?

5. Where do the brothers hide after their bath in Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why may Ma choose to call the narrator's family's new vehicle, "Big-Dick Truck"?

4. What previous incident may have led Joel to ask a pregnant woman outside a drugstore if she was tricked into having a baby?

5. After Ma asks the brothers if they think it is funny when men beat women, the narrator retreats to a window and looks into he sun and says, "I could not blind myself" (16). How does this statement contribute to the nature of the narrator's desires?

6. 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?

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

8. How does the narrator differentiate the brothers' behavior in relation to when Ma is awake or asleep?

9. Even though it is not explicitly mentioned in the novel, how does the author convey that Ma has been abused by Paps in Chapter 4?

10. How do you know that the novel is being written in first-person?

(see the answer keys)

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