View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do Debbie and Peter hope for as they are working on Mrs. Bruning's house?

2. What kind of song does Hector compose when he sees the worms on the sidewalk?

3. Who has a locker next to Debbie?

4. What is Debbie doing as she hears Lenny and his father's conversation?

5. Why is Peter at his grandmother's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What book is Debbie reading in Chapter 22 and what does she think about the book and her life compared to the life of the protagonist in the book?

2. What are the other teens doing while Debbie is dealing with the crisis with Mrs. Bruning?

3. How do both Hector's and Mrs. Bruning's hairstyles change in Chapter 20?

4. How is Mrs. Bruning when she comes home from the hospital and to what does she agree with Peter's parents?

5. With what is Lenny helping his father in Chapter 16, and what is Debbie doing when she overhears them?

6. What does Hector do while waiting for the fireworks?

7. What do Peter and Debbie decide to do after Mrs. Bruning is taken to the hospital?

8. Who is at the Tastee Freez when the guitar lesson group arrives there and how does Hector feel about the class going to the Tastee Freez?

9. What are Debbie and Patty doing while looking at the yearbook and what is Debbie thinking about when she looks at her own picture in the yearbook?

10. What does Debbie think of Dan Persik?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Debbie matures and grows throughout the book.

1. What do you think might be some of the reasons Debbie is maturing? Use examples from the book to support your answer.

2. Do you think Debbie's maturity shown in the book is unrealistic in the short amount of time period the book covers? Why or why not?

3. Discuss the ways that Debbie shows changes in her maturity in the book.

Essay Topic 2

"Criss Cross" belongs to the young adult novel genre. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the young adult novel genre.

2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.

3. What do you think is the difference between a young adult novel and a historical novel mystery?

Essay Topic 3

Oftentimes, a book has more of a character-driven plot rather than action driven, and sometimes it is the other way around. Some books seem to balance the two. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think it means to say that a plot is character driven? Action driven?

2. How do you think a plot differs if it is character driven versus action driven?

3. Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why?

4. Do you think it is possible to have a plot where action and character development share equal time? Why or why not.

5. What type of plot do you think "Criss Cross" is? Explain your response.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,086 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample