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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. What is happening at the beginning of the story "The Beans and Rize Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn"?

2. In "The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn," how old is Isaiah's little sister?

3. In "The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn," what happens when Isaiah tells Mrs. Fisher her breath stinks?

4. In "The Difficult Path," who will marry FuDing if a match cannot be found?

5. In "The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn," what does Isaiah say to his mother that causes her to slap him?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Secret Samantha," how does Blade respond to the gift of the shoelaces?

2. In "How to Transform," why does the narrator want to go to the gym in Balboa in the first place?

3. In "The Beans and Rice Chronicles," what happens between Isaiah and Mrs. Fisher?

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

5. In "Sol Painting, Inc.," what does Roli want to be when he grows up?

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

7. In "Secret Samantha," how and why must Secret Santa change?

8. In "The Beans and Rice Chronicles," what are the stories Isaiah's father has written about?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

Write an essay in which you discuss which character you think has the most influence on the narrator's growth in the story "How to Transform an Ordinary Hoop Court into a Place of Higher Learning and You at the Podium" and why.

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