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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 long did it take Mrs. Zajac to learn her students' names?

2. What was something Mrs. Zajac liked about Pam's lessons for the children?

3. What were the "middle person desks" in Mrs. Zajac's classroom?

4. Which student did Mrs. Zajac acknowledge brought out the worst in her?

5. What book did Mrs. Zajac read at the end of her summer break?

Short Essay Questions

1. What subject did Mrs. Zajac's students have on Wednesday afternoons? How was the behavior in the classroom different from other times as the students prepared their Halloween project?

2. What are "cume" folders? Why do teachers have them? What goes into them? How does Mrs. Zajac use the cumes and why?

3. What kind of parent participation did Mrs. Zajac receive from her students' families? How did she respond to this situation?

4. What is the subject of Kidder's story? Is it fiction or non-fiction? How does he go about learning about his subject?

5. What happened in the 1970's to the town of Holyoke? How did this affect the town and its economy? What plans did the state and local governments come up with to renew Holyoke?

6. What was the name of Mrs. Zajac's school and where was it located? What did we know about the school? What was the make-up of the student body in her classroom?

7. How was Robert's behavior in class? What were Mrs. Zajac's concerns about both his work and his behavior? What new behaviors had Mrs. Zajac noticed?

8. What is the concept of "dual captivity"?

9. What was math class like for Mrs. Zajac? Why did they provide a particular challenge for her? How did she meet the challenge?

10. How did the students respond to Miss Hunt's leaving the class once her student teaching time was over? How did Mrs. Zajac respond? Which students surprised Mrs. Zajac when they were sad to see Miss Hunt go?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What role does Al Laudato play in Kidder's book? Is he an important part of Mrs. Zajac's success as a teacher? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Who was Suzanne? What role did she play in Mrs. Zajac's life? Why did the writer tell us about Suzanne?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the following quote and its relevance to the book:

"Teachers usually have no way of knowing that they have made a difference in a child's life, even when they have made a dramatic one. But for children who are used to thinking of themselves as stupid or not worth talking to or deserving rape and beatings, a good teacher can provide an astonishing revelation. A good teacher can give a child at least a chance to feel. 'She thinks I'm worth something. Maybe I am.' "

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