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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. How does Codell respond to Billy Williams when the boy claims that he hates her?

2. What organization is established to evaluate Codell's Fairy Tale Festival proposal?

3. What is the name of Codell's immediate supervisor at her work in Part I?

4. Why does Mr. Turner object to the winner of the Addy doll during the November 5th assembly?

5. Part I begins with a letter to potential fifth-graders written by whom?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the nature of the struggle between Codell and Mr. Turner in Part I in regards to Codell's proper form of address?

2. What is Codell's attitude toward teaching sexual education?

3. What embarrassing exchange over pronunciation happens in Part I's meeting over Codell's Fairy Tale Festival proposal?

4. As related in Part I's first entry, what happens in Codell's first interviews for the position at the new public school?

5. At the beginning of Part I, what does fifth-grader Melanie warn incoming students about the fifth grade?

6. Describe the story Codell tells about her landlord in a November 10 entry.

7. Why does Codell react negatively to the "Jordan Rules" teaching guidelines?

8. What is Codell's rationale for insisting her students call her Madame Esme?

9. What is Vanessa's problem with the Christmas assembly, and how does she overcome it?

10. What award does Codell win early in Part III, and why is it important to her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Codell's own ambition plays a key role in the text.

1)How does ambition guide Codell's teaching philosophy, and the choices she makes with her curriculum and teaching methods?

2)What does the Fairy Tale Festival proposal say about Codell's ambition? Is Codell's ambition rewarded or punished?

3)At the end of the Epilogue, Codell agrees with adage that "Those who can't do, teach." How does Codell relate this statement to her own ambition? In the end, how has Codell's ambition affected her career, and the degree of success she's had?

Essay Topic 2

The class has a moment of unity when they read The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes.

1)Describe the plot of The Hundred Dresses.

2)Why do you think the story caused Ashworth to reveal the fact of his missing finger to the class?

3)What larger comment does this incident make about the power of learning and of reading?

Essay Topic 3

Is Codell emotionally involved with her students? Is "love" an appropriate term for Codell's relationship with her students? What might Codell say about the value (or danger) of a teacher's emotional attachment with his or her students? How might this attachment affect the learning process?

(see the answer keys)

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