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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. Where do Jonah and his family move?

2. In "Bubbly and Nugget," how old is Claude?

3. What did Coach fling with a fork in "Fog"?

4. In "Riot," for how many days do Claude and his family not leave the house?

5. In "Euclid Avenue," what flowers does Claude remember that his grandmother use to plop him down and sit by him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Claude want to leave in "Vacuum," and what does Janice tell him?

2. Who is Chester Dexter?

3. How does Janice change in "Chester Dexter and Renaissance"?

4. What happened after the fight that Claude's parents had in "Sixty-Third Street Beach"?

5. What are the sleeping arrangements when Annette and Janice move in with Claude's family?

6. What does Grandma tell Claude when he keeps running away in "Sixty-Seventh Street"?

7. What was Nugget's life like?

8. What happens when Claude identifies George Bones as the person who beat him up?

9. What happened when Big Columbus disappeared?

10. In "Janice and the Redbelters," what does Paul look like in a photo he shows Claude?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

People come and go in Claude’s life. Who are some people who come and go in Claude’s life? How does Claude feel about the transience of his relationships? How do the transitory relationships affect him and how he feels about life?

Essay Topic 2

Jonah moves into Claude’s neighborhood. Who is Jonah? What does Jonah begin to represent to Claude and Paul? Why is Jonah important in their lives?

Essay Topic 3

In the novel, some characters are more thoroughly described than others. Who are some characters that are merely named in passing or have a minor role in the novel? What is the importance of these flat characters to the storyline? In what way do these characters make the main characters more colorful or interesting? When there is conflict, what type of role do these flat characters play?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 892 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample