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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 contest does Dave win in the fifth grade?

2. What does one of the ladies in the neighborhood give to Dave out of sympathy in Chapter 6, While Father is Away?

3. What are Dave's feelings as he lies on his cot the night he is stabbed?

4. What does Dave's mother tell him to do while she takes his brothers to the zoo?

5. When Dave brings home a letter from Mr. Zeigler telling Mother about Dave's being the top student in the class, how does Mother react?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Dave's thoughts when his father leaves for good?

2. Explain what Dave's mother does after he is stabbed.

3. Summarize Russell's attitude toward Dave, as described in Chapter 5, The Accident.

4. Explain the new punishment Dave's mother invents for him in Chapter 5, While Father is Away, and how he survives it.

5. Describe the actions of Dave's mother when she offers him a plate of food after ten days of not eating.

6. How does Dave look positively at his abusive past?

7. Describe Dave's behavior in the classroom one a day during the winter of 1973.

8. How does the school nurse become interested in Dave's condition in Chapter 6, While Father is Away?

9. Summarize the incidents that happen to Dave on the day his mother takes his brothers to the zoo.

10. In Chapter 6, While Father is Away, what does Dave's father vow he will do for Dave someday?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the different methods Dave uses to obtain food. Cite examples from the book.

- What are Dave's punishments when his mother finds out he has been sneaking food?

- Describe some of the food items Dave eats in order to survive.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the relationship between Dave and his brother, Russell.

- How does Russell have an impact on how Dave's mother treats him?

- What are Russell's feelings toward Dave?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze Dave as an adult.

- What does he vow to do with his life now that he is free?

- What has he done with his adult life to escape his past and move on?

- Explain how he prevents himself from falling into the black hole of self-pity.

(see the answer keys)

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