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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 is the name of Eddie’s best friend from high school who has been murdered in the novel?

2. What is the playground in the barrio where kids play, and where gangsters recruit new members?

3. What does Eddie’s aunt want him to do for her in Chapter 2?

4. What refers to an object, action, or idea that represents something other than itself, often of a more abstract nature?

5. What is a literary device in which an author indistinctly suggests certain plot developments that will come later in the story?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Eddie work in Chapter 1? How is this neighborhood described?

2. How is Eddie’s neighborhood described in Chapter 1?

3. What additional item does Eddie’s aunt bring him with tortillas in Chapter 2? Why?

4. What causes Eddie’s sense of fear in Chapter 1?

5. What leads to Eddie’s encounter with the police in Chapter 3?

6. What leads to Mr. Stiles’s truck being stolen in Chapter 2?

7. What does Eddie’s job entail generally? Who greets him when he arrives home from work in Chapter 1?

8. What does Eddie discover at the dump in Chapter 2?

9. What do Eddie and José find when they stop to pick up onions after eating in Chapter 4?

10. What background information does the author establish regarding Eddie’s past and the people he has lost in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the motif of onions in Buried Onions. When are they first mentioned by the narrator? How do onions play into the description of the setting in the barrio? What is represented by the onion seller in the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the character of Aunt Delores in the novel. How close is Eddie to his aunt? Where does Delores live? What objective does Delores have in bringing Eddie tortillas? Do you think this makes her a likable character? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Eddie’s brush with the police in Chapter 3. Why are the police called on Eddie while he is in north Fresno? What does he do upon facing this conflict? Is this a good decision? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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