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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 movie does Frances decide she wants to see when she spends a weekend with Joan?

2. Who is the secretary at Frances's school who often lets Frances stay with her until her mother comes to get her?

3. How many Black men are in Group 8?

4. How many girls came to the birthday where Vanessa's mother got a clown for the party?

5. What was the longest that Vanessa and her mother went without speaking because Vanessa would not go to Mass?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Antonio have to say about the ASCANs in August 1981?

2. Where do Joan and Vanessa decide to go together, and how do they get there?

3. What happens to Griff, and why do they not tell Vanessa right away?

4. Why does Barbara bring Frances to Joan's apartment one night?

5. How does Joan feel about Frances growing up?

6. What does Vanessa do as a Cape Crusader?

7. Why is Joan selected to be the first woman to fly in the shuttle?

8. What problems does Vanessa have when she tries to close the latches on the payload doors?

9. What does Barbara have to say about leaving Frances locked outside the house?

10. What advice does Joan give Lydia, when Lydia wonders why she was not chosen to fly on the shuttle?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A character arc is the inner journey of a character in a book. What is Joan’s character arc, and what situations influence her growth and transformation?

Essay Topic 2

What a reader knows about events and characters is determined by the point of view in a book. What is the point of view in Atmosphere? How does the point of view influence what readers know about events and characters? How does it help readers connect with and understand characters?

Essay Topic 3

Joan has always felt like a misfit. She has felt as though she does not belong. Why has Joan felt like a misfit, and how does joining NASA help Joan make peace with who she is and what she can do?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 941 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample