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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 Rufus offer to buy with the money he gets when he leaves Pine Valley?

2. Durango Street offers hope that a dangerous gang is able to become a benign social organization how?

3. After settling alone in his room, Rufus makes sure his Ernie Brown scrapbook is where?

4. How do the gang members reflect their vote for Rufus to join the Moors?

5. When Alex Robbins studies the Moors' file, he finds there are how many members, including Rufus?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the beginning of Durango Street, what is it Rufus Henry's parole officer, Ed Travers, initially ensures?

2. Why is the house in the Durango Housing Project not one in which Rufus Henry will feel at home?

3. Why is Rufus Henry nervous about going to the Durango Housing Project?

4. What transpires when Rufus Henry initially meets up with the other Moors members at the crafts room at the Walnut Street playground to meet Alex Robbins?

5. After the police officer who pulls them over for questioning lets them go, what does Rufus Henry tell his sister as they continue to the grocery?

6. In the opening chapters, what type of picture does author Frank Bonham paint of Rufus Henry's new environment in the Durango Housing Project?

7. Once safe at home following his confrontation with the Gassers in the alley, what is his mother's response when Rufus Henry asks her about her first marriage?

8. What procedure do the Moors members follow in allowing Rufus Henry into their gang?

9. In Chapters 4-6, how is it that author Frank Bonham focuses upon crafting Rufus Henry's character?

10. Why is it that Rufus Henry intentionally ruins tires he is working on at his new job in the repair shop?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Rufus Henry recognizes that he wants to attend college, but to do so requires him to obtain a scholarship. What sports scholarship does Rufus seek? What steps is Rufus following toward achieving that goal? What dietary procedures is he pursuing? What sort of employment does Rufus feel he must obtain in order to develop his muscles?

Essay Topic 2

Chapters 16-18 afford an exciting section to read. Frank Bonham offers details frugally as a means of creating suspense. What tidbits of information does the author supply to spark reader curiosity? What aspects does the reader wonder about in terms of the role they will play in the Moors' attack on the Gassers? What mysteries does the author leave in this section?

Essay Topic 3

Delineate how characterization is central within the final chapters. What are some of the ways Rufus Henry demonstrates his having matured? How does the graduation dance mark Rufus' shift? What conscious decisions does Rufus begin making in his transition from crime and violence to constructive action? Whereas he had previously thought the graduation dance would be a means of getting Simon Jones locked up for a good while, what does he attempt to do as he is entering the event? What actions does he take that are responsible when the Gassers cause trouble at the affair? When he is having his discussion with his mother and Alex Robbins following the dance, what does Rufus recognize regarding the future course he will be taking?

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