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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. When Marshall accuses Tamaya of "pokeying" on page 21, what is he saying she is doing?

2. While the class is writing in their journals, what does Hope notice about Tamaya?

3. In the beginning of Chapter 3, why is Tamaya angry as she waits by the bike racks after school for Marshall?

4. Why does Tamaya wake up at 7:08 every morning?

5. What main point does Professor Alice Mayfair seem to want to make in her Senate testimony?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the consequences Marshall suffers at school because of Chad's bullying?

2. What does Tamaya rub in Chad's face, and how does Chad react?

3. What offer does Tamaya make to Marshall on their walk to school in Chapter 12, and why does she think his response is not very honest?

4. When he is lying awake on the night after Chad's attack, what two possible endings does Marshall imagine for a scenario where he tries to defend Tamaya from Chad?

5. When Ms. Filbert was assigning the reports about presidents, how did her behavior contradict her words?

6. Why has Chad come to Woodridge Academy?

7. What ideas are conveyed by the description of the history of the building Woodridge Academy is housed in?

8. What advice of Ms. Filbert's does Tamaya think about as she is about to go into the woods, and why does she think about it?

9. What are some of the odd habits that Jonathan Fitzman has?

10. What does Ms. Filbert's balloon demonstration show about her as a teacher?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Fuzzy Mud convey about what it means to be a good person or a bad person? Are there any characters who are all good or all bad? What role do circumstances play in some of the bad behavior in the book? Can a good person be influenced by circumstances or momentary weakness to do something bad? Do the characters who do things that harm others always intend to cause harm? Are these characters actually even trying to do something good, sometimes? Is it always possible to tell what the outcome of our actions will be? Write an essay that considers what the book as a whole is trying to communicate about what it means to be "good" or "bad" person. Support your claims with evidence drawn from throughout the text. If you use quoted evidence, remember to cite it in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

What message does this novel convey about choosing the easy way out of a dilemma instead of choosing to do what is right, even if it is hard to do? How does this question relate to people in the book who do not seem to understand their own intentions or why they make the choices they make? How does this relate to the idea of a "Hobson's choice"? How does it relate to Woodridge Academy's emphasis on virtue and valor? Write an essay that takes and defends a position about what Fuzzy Mud communicates about making ethical choices. Support your claims with evidence drawn from throughout the text. If you use quoted evidence, remember to cite it in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Think again about the action and inaction of Tamaya and Marshall when Chad disappears. Are there other characters in this story who know that something bad is happening and either step up to try to help or stand back and try to ignore the problem? Is the story trying to say that one of these choices is morally better than the other? Is the story conveying something about how personality and circumstance both influence whether we make "good" or "bad" moral choices? Write an essay that looks at Tamaya, Marshall, and at least two other characters faced with the choice between standing up for what is right and ignoring the problem. In your essay, make and defend a claim about what message the book is trying to send about situations like this. Support your arguments with evidence drawn from throughout the book. If you use quoted evidence, remember to cite it in MLA format.

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