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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 "The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn," what kinds of movies did Isaiah and his father both like?

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

3. In "The Difficult Path," what condition does the narrator's mother set when she sells her?

4. In "How to Transform," the first time the narrator plays well, what happens?

5. In "Secret Samantha," what grade is Samantha in?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In "How to Transform," how does the narrator finally get into his first game?

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

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

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

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

7. In "The Beans and Rice Chronicles," who is Mr. Shephard?

8. Describe the relationship between Isaiah and Charlie in "The Beans and Rice Chronicles."

9. In "Sol Painting, Inc.," what do Merci's business cards look like?

10. In "Sol Painting, Inc.," how does the girls' soccer team act in trying to get into the gym?

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

Write an essay in which you explain how the structure of "Choctaw Bigfoot, Midnight in the Mountains" influences the messages the writer is trying to convey.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you discuss how Isaiah Dunn changes and grows over the course of the story, "The Rice and Beans Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn." What is he like at the beginning of the story? What is he like at the end? What has happened to change him?

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