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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. When did Buddy Holly and Richie Valens die in a plane crash?

2. In Section 1, Chapter 10, what do Dante and his Dad sing along to on a drive to the desert?

3. What is Ari's brother's name?

4. What is Ari's father's occupation?

5. In Section 1, Chapter 5, what poet does Ari read?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the first thing that Ari dreams in Section 2, Chapter 1?

2. When and how did Ari's mother finish her bachelor's degree?

3. What is the weather like when Ari comes home from the hospital?

4. What does Ari discover about himself at the beginning of Section 2, Chapter 3?

5. Why doesn't Ari ask his father questions and how does he learn who is father is without asking questions?

6. What does Dante do with Ari when Dante comes over in Section 2, Chapter 4?

7. Why doesn't Ari like dealing with his mother's Catholic-Church-lady friends?

8. Were does Ari wake up and how does he feel in Section 3, Chapter 1?

9. Why doesn't Dante get along with his cousins?

10. How does Ari describe his surgeon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ari becomes ill and has strange dreams. What do the dreams reveal about Ari and the things he is struggling with as he is dealing with growing up? How do the dreams symbolize the issues Ari struggles with?

Essay Topic 2

Ari says that the summer sun is not meant for boys like him. What are boys like him meant for and why?

Essay Topic 3

In Section 6, Ari has a lot of anger he is holding inside. Why is Ari so angry and how does his anger affect his relationship with his father and with Dante?

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