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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. How does Dave feel about his father after he tells his father about the stabbing?

2. What happens to Dave in the winter of 1973, while he is in his classroom?

3. What is Dave's punishment for exceeding the allotted time for chores in Chapter 5, The Accident?

4. What does Dave's mother do after Dave is stabbed?

5. Who do Dave's brothers bring to the house to see him being punished in Chapter 6, While Father is Away?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Dave feel about life in America, as outlined in the Epilogue?

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

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

4. Describe the incident where Dave is stabbed by his mother.

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

6. Summarize what Dave wants from his life now that he is free in the Epilogue.

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

8. Describe what Dave does when he finds that his stab wound is infected.

9. Summarize the forms of punishment Dave expects to receive as he turns 11-years-old.

10. Explain what Dave eats after he finished the dishes one day in Chapter 7, The Lord's Prayer.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze Dave's coming of age throughout the story.

- What fears and emotions does he experience as he experiences more and more abuse from his mother?

- How do his attitudes change as he develops from a young boy into an adult?

- Cite examples of the changes Dave goes through from the good times in the story through his abuse and his rescue.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the book, Dave's mother reveals her coldness and cruelty toward Dave.

- Summarize how her attitude toward Dave reflects the attitudes of the rest of the family. Cite examples from the story.

- How does she brainwash Dave's brothers and father not to acknowledge Dave's abusive situation?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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