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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 Cut eating on the way home?

2. What part of the narrator's body is cut when he wakes up?

3. What does Rafa hit Ysrael with?

4. Who kicks the two boys off the bus?

5. What has the narrator lived without for the first nine years of his life?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is school difficult for the narrator?

2. Why did the narrator and his brother spend their summers with their uncle?

3. What does Papi tell Mami on the phone?

4. How does the narrator feel when his girlfriend is released from the juvenile hall?

5. How do the family react when Papi sends them a second letter saying he is coming home?

6. What is happening when the narrator returns with the burgers?

7. How does Ysrael try to help the two boys?

8. How does the aunt help out the narrator?

9. What happens to Rafa and the narrator on the bus?

10. What is chapter four about?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify the main themes of the stories. In what way are these themes relevant to the time period and setting? How does Diaz use character and setting to express his themes?

Essay Topic 2

Pick a character from the book and discuss their goals and motives. Do they achieve their motive? Do they share similar goals and motives with other characters? Do their goals clash with other characters? How do the characters goals and motives affect their interaction with each other?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Diaz's life. In what way is his life and personality reflected in the book?In what ways is he like or unlike the main character?

(see the answer keys)

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