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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. Grandma takes Mary Alice directly where?

2. What is burgoo stew?

3. What has broken the narrator and her mother?

4. Mad, Grandma affixes a spare tire to the front of the farmer's tractor in the barn, and does what?

5. One night, Mary Alice is shocked to discover what about Bootsie?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is theme is strong in this section? Support your response with information from this section.

2. How does Mildred go about attempting to collect the dollar from Mary Alice? What does this reveal about Mildred?

3. What is burgoo stew? How might this represent life during the Great Depression?

4. How does Grandma get back at Old Man Nyquist? Should she have done this? Why or why not?

5. How does Old Man Nyquist upset Grandma?

6. Describe Halloween in this town. Why might it be like this?

7. How does Grandma handle these pranksters?

8. Describe the events surrounding Augie's attempt to impress Mary Alice. What does this reinforce about his character?

9. Why is Mary Alice afraid at night in her room? How does she deal with this fear?

10. How does Grandma defeat Mildred, the bully? What lesson does this teach Mary Alice?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mary Alice and Ina-Rae conspire against Carleen.

Part 1) How do these girls use Valentine's Day to get back at Carleen? Why do they do this? Are they successful? Why or why not? What does this behavior reveal about Mary Alice at this point in the story?

Part 2) How else does Mary Alice begin to take a stand for herself and others throughout this book? Why does she do this? How does her behavior compare to Grandma's?

Part 3) How can you stand up more for yourself and others? Would you consider using tactics similar to those used by Mary Alice and Grandma? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Mary Alice is the main character.

Part 1) Describe Mary Alice. How does she change throughout the story? Why does she change? How do other characters in this story also change? What is Mary Alice's relationship with other main characters in the story?

Part 2) Mary Alice is also the narrator of the story. How does her narration affect the knowledge of the reader? How does it also influence the reader's opinion of other characters? How different might the story be if the narrator were not a character in the story? How different might the story be if Grandma was the narrator?

Part 3) What is learned about Middle America during the Great Depression through Mary Alice's eyes? Has this affected your view of life in the 1930s? If so, how? If not, why not?

Essay Topic 3

Grandma is a unique character.

Part 1) Describe your initial thoughts about Grandma. How did your opinion of her change by the end of the book? Why did your opinion change?

Part 2) What issues does Grandma's behavior bring up? What is her opinion of these issues? Why? How does your opinion compare to hers? Are your beliefs questioned by reading this book? Why or why not?

Part 3) What would the world be like if more people were like Grandma? Would this be a better place? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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