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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. What is Marshall feeling confused about when he starts walking through the woods?

2. What characteristic of Tamaya's makes it harder for her to search for Chad?

3. What is ironic about how careful Tamaya is in positioning Chad when they are getting ready to jump the gully?

4. What ridiculous rumor about Chad does Marshall pretend to believe as an excuse for not telling Mrs. Thaxton the truth?

5. What government agency does Dr. Peter Smythe work for?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Tamaya end up getting more fuzzy mud on her, and how does her response show her common sense?

2. How does Marshall's behavior in Mrs. Thaxton's office contradict the decision he makes right before he goes in?

3. Why does no one realize that Marshall is missing when he goes into the woods to look for Tamaya?

4. When Marshall is on the basketball court at lunch, what is ironic about his behavior toward Tamaya?

5. What finally causes Marshall to stand up to Chad, and how does this moment contradict Marshall's worst fears about himself?

6. When Chad tells Tamaya and Marshall about being up in the trees, what does Tamaya think sounds so nice about it, and why?

7. When they are in the woods together, what does Tamaya learn about Chad's story about the hermit?

8. How does Tamaya's parents' divorce make her feel as if she is always missing something?

9. How does Chad answer Tamaya's question about why he acts the way he does?

10. How do the kids discover that Tamaya has lost her vision?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

You have spent some time thinking about how Tamaya and Fitzman demonstrate opposite attitudes toward personal responsibility. But what about other characters in this book? Choose another character and write about their attitude on this subject. What things does the character do and say that show whether they think ahead about how their actions will impact themselves and others? When something goes wrong, does the character accept responsibility or try to blame the problem on others, or blame their circumstances? What message does this send about the importance of personal responsibility? 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

How do the realistic setting, characters, and plot of Fuzzy Mud all interact to keep the reader engaged in the story? Why does it matter that the story is set in ordinary places like a school, the woods, and students' homes? How do the thoughts and feelings of the ordinary children in this story help the reader bond with them? How does this bond increase the reader's engagement? In what ways is the plot realistic, and why does it matter that these things could really happen? Write an essay that uses evidence drawn from plot, characterization, and setting to show the many ways in which Fuzzy Mud is realistic and how Sachar's use of realism keeps the reader engaged.

Essay Topic 3

For Chad and Marshall, learning to understand themselves and their intentions more clearly is a journey that reaches a turning point when they are in the woods together for the second time. But their journey does not end here, of course--there are still many more chapters of the novel to go. How do the remaining chapters of the novel demonstrate whether or not these two boys have been successful in learning to understand themselves better? Is there evidence that they have made progress by the end of the novel, or do they fall back into their old ways? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about whether the things they realized about themselves in the woods have had a lasting impact. Support your claims with evidence drawn from throughout the text. If you use quoted evidence, remember to cite it in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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