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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 Julio think will happen after he takes Bodega to see Vera?

2. Which hospital does Victor want to go to?

3. Who are Bodega and his lawyer talking about when Julio and Sapo visit in Round 7?

4. Where does Negra live?

5. What name does Blanca want to call the baby if it is a boy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Bodega think Vera will want to get back together with him?

2. What bothers Julio about his meetings with Bodega in Part II?

3. What was basic, simple street politics, according to Julio?

4. Why do both Julio and Blanca enroll in Hunter College?

5. Why does Bodega order a goose for Sapo to collect in Part II?

6. Why does Blanca ask Julio if he knows any men who want to get married?

7. Why does Julio turn down Bodega's offer to work for him at first?

8. What game do Sapo and Julio play with kites as teenagers?

9. Why does Victor refuse to go to the nearest hospital when Negra stabs him?

10. Why does Blanca dislike Sapo?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do you think Sapo is so desperate for Julio to acknowledge their childhood and teenage memories together at the very end of the novel? Why do you think Nazario assumes Sapo will be the one to inherit Bodega's powerful perch as the neighborhood drug dealer and benefactor? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Who were the Young Lords, and what was the group trying to achieve when Bodega was one of its members and leaders? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Why does Willie Bodega refuse to let most people in Spanish Harlem know what he looks like? Why does Bodega think that anonymity lends him more power, ultimately? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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