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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where does Ellen hide on New Year's Day while she waits for her father and his friends to leave her house?
(a) In the garage.
(b) At Starletta's house.
(c) In the woods.
(d) In the closet.

2. What organization does Ellen join to curb her boredom in the winter?
(a) The show choir.
(b) The Girl Scouts.
(c) The basketball team.
(d) Nothing.

3. What food item does Ellen take with her on her pony ride?
(a) Candy.
(b) Bread.
(c) Biscuits.
(d) Carrots.

4. What has Ellen's mother's absence forced Ellen to obtain for herself?
(a) Friends.
(b) Food.
(c) Love.
(d) Clothes.

5. What writing tense does the author use to tell Ellen's story?
(a) Past tense.
(b) Past and the present tense.
(c) Future tense.
(d) Present tense.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who visits Ellen at school after she is a ward of the state?

2. What entertainment activity does Ellen's father entertain his guests with on New Year's Eve?

3. What make-up item does Ellen contemplate wearing to her mother's funeral?

4. What type of employment does Starletta's parents do?

5. Where does Ellen celebrate her first Christmas after her mother's death?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Ellen wearing her mother's clothes symbolic to the story?

2. Why does Ellen feel that she is better off being a ward of the county rather than being in the custody of her father?

3. How does Ellen's grandmother cause a scene at the funeral?

4. What are some of the fun and leisure activities Ellen is granted in her new home?

5. In what ways does Ellen justify not telling anyone about the circumstances of her mother's death?

6. Why does Ellen choose Starletta's parents when asked by the school board if Ellen has someone to take care of her?

7. How does the fact that Ellen is concerned with snakes in her new life hint at how she feels about the members of her family?

8. How can a reader tell that Ellen may harbor some prejudices toward African American people?

9. What event leads to Ellen's removal from her father's care?

10. At the funeral, why does Ellen avoid looking at her mother's grave?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 625 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample