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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. When does Paul have a cancer scare?

2. Where is the park where Claude starts running away to?

3. What special do the flyers that the Redbelters hand out for Chill's Smokehouse offer?

4. When was Claude's father a teenager?

5. How old was the oldest Jackson boy when he died from cancer?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Nugget's life like?

2. Why and how does Annette leave Chicago?

3. Who is Chester Dexter?

4. How does Claude remember his father from the last fight he had with Claude's mother?

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

6. What happens when four teenagers run down Sixty-Seventh Street and confront the cops in "Riot"?

7. What happened when Big Columbus disappeared?

8. In "Riot," what does Claude remember about a patrolman he sees standing in combat gear?

9. Why does Claude say that Chill's Smokehouse was a front?

10. What are the circumstances behind a boy getting killed in "Janice and the Redbelters"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Flashbacks are a literary device used to provide information about events that took place before the story began. How does the author use flashbacks in the novel? How does the author’s choice to use flashback affect the plot?

Essay Topic 2

Grandma and Paul encourage Claude and Janice to be independent. How do Grandma and Paul encourage Claude and Janice to be independent? What are the benefits of being raised to be independent? How do Claude and Janice benefit from the way that Grand and Paul raised them to be independent?

Essay Topic 3

Claude tells his story from the time he was a young boy to when he is a college student. How does Claude mature and grow in the novel?

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This section contains 880 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample