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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 "Main Street," what does Celeste tell the narrator she should never do?

2. In "Seventy-Six Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents," where did the narrator meet his first crush?

3. In "Main Street," what treat does Celeste like?

4. In "Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push," what does the narrator's father always seem to say?

5. In "Seventy-Six Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents," why is the narrator writing it?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Main Street," why does the narrator lose her old friends once Celeste arrives?

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

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

4. In "Choctaw Bigfoot," what is the moral of the story?

5. In "Seventy-Six Dollars," who is Lisa Castillo?

6. In "Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push," why does the narrator's dad always seem so quiet?

7. In "Choctaw Bigfoot," how does the story climax and eventually end?

8. In "Flying Lessons," what does Santosh say is his "deal with the devil"?

9. How are the Choctaw involved in "Choctaw Bigfoot"?

10. Describe the game against the Clippers in "Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push."

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, discuss what role Lin Po's poem plans in "The Difficult Path." How does Po define this path? What is this path for the narrator, and does she succeed in walking it?

Essay Topic 3

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)?

(see the answer keys)

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