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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. Where did the civics teacher stand during the tests he gave?

2. What trait did the author's mother posses that she was most ashamed of?

3. Who did the author feel could intercede with God for him?

4. What physical trait was the author most embarrassed by during his early school years?

5. What political way of thinking did the author's parents practice?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the memories the author has about his place of worship?

2. What was the best part of the author's school experience and why?

3. How does the author describe his childhood perception of the distance between Brownsville and New York?

4. There was one topic of discussion on the Sabbath nights that always made the author happy. What was that topic and why?

5. Why didn't the author believe his cousin and her friends were of his parent's generation?

6. Who does the demolished part of the author's childhood neighborhood remind the author of and why was she so important to him?

7. The author liked to go to his cousin's room right before supper. What did he like to do while he was in there?

8. Twice a year, the author's mother would mourn her parent's deaths. What other significance did his mother's mourning hold for the author?

9. What is the nickname the author's father gave him? What is the meaning of the nickname and did the author like his nickname?

10. How does the author describe the second street he remembers and what is it's name?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

During the Jewish Sabbath worship, the author's family did something that was unorthodox. What was that practice and what was it's impact on the family? Explain the emotions and expressions the author's family had.

Essay Topic 2

In the narrative, the author continually describes his struggle with feeling like an outsider. The author also talks about how he tried to escape being an outsider.

Part 1) Have you ever felt like an outsider?

Part 2) What ways have you discovered help you not feel like an outsider?

Essay Topic 3

In what ways did the author choose to escape his daily life? Why did the author feel he needed to escape and why is he "walking" through a time when he felt the need to escape? What is he trying to escape from that he wrote the memoir/

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This section contains 945 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample