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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. Why does Chick Benetto believe he was not invited to this family event?

2. Where does the narrator claim to have found the main character of this novel one Saturday morning?

3. What does the narrator claim to have spent part of her career doing?

4. Why does Chick sneak out of work in Section 1?

5. What does Posey do with this food?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the narrator later find belonging to Chick Benetto that was used in writing this book?

2. What draws Chick's attention to the table top in his mother's kitchen as his mother treats his wounds?

3. Why did Posey refer to Chick as a Daddy's boy?

4. To whose wedding is Chick Benetto not invited?

5. What one thing does Chick recall always made his parents happy?

6. Why does Chick Benetto drive toward his home town?

7. What happens on the way to Chick's hometown?

8. What offends Chick when a man calls his mother a divorcee?

9. What event caused Chick Benetto to lose faith in himself?

10. What after school activity did Chick pick even after his father left?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Chick's lists. Why does Chick keep a list of the things his mother did to stand up for him and the times he failed to stand up for his mother? What do these lists tell the reader about Chick's relationship with is mother? What do these lists tell the reader about Posey's feelings for her son? Do these lists help Chick in any way? Were these lists kept before or after the accident that brought Chick one more day with his mother?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss father-daughter relationships. How is Chick's relationship with his daughter like his own relationship with his father? How is Chick's relationship with his daughter like his relationship with his mother? Why is Chick's relationship with his daughter important to the plot of the novel? Who is Chick's daughter? How is Chick's sister's relationship with their mother different from Chick's relationship with their mother? Is this difference important to the developing plot? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss baseball. Why does Chick decide to go out for baseball? Why does Chick continue to play baseball? Why does Chick not tell his mother that his father comes to his college baseball games? Why does Chick leave college to play professional baseball? How does Posey feel about Chick making this choice? Does this baseball career give Chick the life he wants? Why or why not? Why does Chick finally decide to quit baseball? Why does Chick's father pressure him into playing an old-timers game? What is significant about this game?

(see the answer keys)

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