View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "How to Transform," what advice does Dante give the narrator?

2. In "Sol Painting, Inc.," what has Roli suggested Merci do to get her summer reading done?

3. In "How to Transform," what does Slim offer to buy the narrator?

4. In "How to Transform," what do the other players call the narrator during his first weeks at the gym?

5. In "Secret Samantha," who is Samantha's best friend?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "How to Transform," why does the narrator decide to give up going to the gym, and what happens when he does?

2. In "Secret Samantha," what happens when Samantha goes to the mall with her mother to buy a gift for Blade?

3. How does "How to Transform" end, and what has the narrator learned by the end?

4. In "Secret Samantha," what is being said about Blade during her first day at the new school?

5. Explain why Lingsi in "The Difficult Path" may have to marry FuDing.

6. In "The Beans and Rice Chronicles," how does the relationship between Isaiah and his mother erupt?

7. In "The Beans and Rice Chronicles," who is Miz Rita?

8. In "The Difficult Path," what is Li Po's poem "The Difficult Path" about, and why is the poem significant to the story?

9. In "Sol Painting, Inc.," what happens involving Dona Rosa?

10. In "The Difficult Path," how does Lingsi feel about the donkey ride she takes to the temple and what she sees along the way?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In an essay, consider how the title "Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push" relates to the story itself. What does it literally mean? What does it mean metaphorically? How does it set up the writer's theme(s)?

Essay Topic 2

Choose two or more minor characters from the stories in this collection and write an essay in which you compare/ contrast how the writers use these apparently unimportant figures to make important thematic points.

Essay Topic 3

In an essay, discuss how Samantha's relationship with her mother develops over the course of the story "Secret Samantha."

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,345 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample