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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 "Choctaw Bigfoot, Midnight in the Mountains," how does the family escape from Bigfoot?

2. In "Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push," how much is the team down at half time?

3. In "Choctaw Bigfoot, Midnight in the Mountains," what is the narrator's nickname?

4. In "Flying Lessons," how many brothers does Santosh have?

5. In "Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push," what is the narrator's name?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Flying Lessons," why has the grandmother brought Santosh to Europe?

2. In "Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push," what happened to put the narrator in a wheelchair?

3. What do Santosh and Tomas have in common?

4. In "Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push," what does the dad teach his son's team?

5. In "Main Street," how is it that Celeste came to live in Peterborough?

6. In "Choctaw Bigfoot," what does the narrator's mother tell him about his uncle?

7. In "Main Street," what is the relationship like between the narrator and Celeste?

8. In "Flying Lessons," what is wrong with Santosh's choice of ice cream?

9. In "Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push," why is the narrator so nervous about his dad getting involved with his team?

10. In "Seventy-Six Dollars," describe what Monk is writing and how.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many of these stories are told in an unusual way. For example, "Choctaw, Bigfoot, Midnight in the Mountains" is the story of someone telling a story; "Seventy-Six Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents "is told in verse; "The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn" is told as a series of journal entries." Choose at least two stories from the collection and compare and contrast how they are told and how the storytelling method affects the stories' meanings.

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

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.

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