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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 does Rick say about this book?

2. What did momma lecture Rick about on the rare occasions that she lectured?

3. What bet did Uncle Jimbo win for twenty dollars?

4. What payment was most likely used for the doctor who helped give birth to Rick's mother?

5. What was the reason that Charles whipped his daughter Margaret at the age of thirteen?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the main reason for Rick writing this memoir?

2. Why does Rick miss his grandmother's death?

3. What did the poor black boy bring to Rick's family, and what does Rick think about it now that he is an older man?

4. What does Rick choose to believe about his father's neglect and abuse of his family?

5. What did Rick experience at the Protestant Church that he attended when he is young?

6. What kind of a woman was Rick's grandmother?

7. How did false pride become an obstacle for Rick as a teenager?

8. What was the area like and what were the people like where Rick and his parents grew up?

9. What story did Rick tell about his cowboy boots?

10. Why does Rick say that anyone could write this book? Is that true?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After the riots in Miami, Sean kept the rock as did Rick for a while until they couldn't keep it any more. What is the significance of the rock? What made them keep it? What made them get rid of it?

Essay Topic 2

Explain the quote found on page 98: "But what really kills you on that other side are the people--the smiling, care-free people--who can just as easily look over into your side, and turn their face away." Explain it in terms of the memoir and the truism in life.

Essay Topic 3

According to Rick, what does true poverty do to a person's life from childhood to adulthood?

(see the answer keys)

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