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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. In "Secret Samantha," what does Samantha use to recreate the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon she already used?

2. In "A Difficult Path," why does the Li family travel to the Infinite Stream temple?

3. In "The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn," where do Isaiah and his family move?

4. In "The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn," where does Isaiah spend his free time?

5. In "How to Transform," what does the narrator decided to do after two weeks at the gym?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Secret Samantha," what happens when Samantha goes to see the school nurse?

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

3. In "Sol Painting, Inc.," what does Merci plan to do when she grows up?

4. In "Secret Samantha," describe Blade's first appearance.

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

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

9. Explain why Tianyi in "The Difficult Path" insists that Bisi is "too plain" to trade to other pirates.

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

Choose at least two stories from this collection in which the characters have lost a parent. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast how these losses affect the main characters and how the writers seem to use these tragedies to shape the messages of their works.

Essay Topic 2

Many images seem to reappear over the course of this story collection: the beach, ice cream, basketball, water, cars, etc. Choose one image that shows up in at least two stories. The compare and contrast how the image is used in each story to develop the stories' themes.

Essay Topic 3

Choose two or more stories from this collection and write an essay in which you compare/ contrast how money plays an important role in what happens and the messages the authors are trying to get across.

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