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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. How does Chad show courage when Marshall is trying to get Tamaya out of the gully?

2. While she is in the woods, what does Tamaya realize about the fuzzy mud?

3. What does Marshall see that suddenly changes his attitude and makes him worried that something serious is happening?

4. What is Tamaya so confused about throughout lunch in Chapter 17?

5. What does Chad tell Tamaya he could use the stick to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. What details show the reader how Hope, Monica, and Summer want boys to see them?

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

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

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

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

6. By the time Marshall is found by the searchers, which items of clothing is he missing, and why?

7. What makes Mrs. Thaxton feel so guilty about Tamaya's disappearance?

8. What happens when Mr. Walsh shows up at Woodridge to pick up Marshall?

9. How does Chad feel that he is different from his siblings and from the other Woodridge students?

10. How does Tamaya try to ensure that she will be able to find her way back out of the woods?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One effect of having multiple perspectives in a novel is that the reader gets to see events and characters from more than one perspective. Think of an event or character that seems one way when presented from either Marshall's or Tamaya's perspective but that you understand differently when the same event or character is then presented from the other character's perspective. Explain how this event or character is presented first and then show how the reader's understanding is enhanced or changed when the same event or character is seen from the perspective of a different character. Support your ideas with evidence from the text, and remember that if you use quoted evidence, this should be cited in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

What message about courage does Fuzzy Mud convey? How do various characters display--or fail to display--the kind of courage this book is talking about? What are the consequences of these choices? Do any characters grow and change in their ability to display courage? What relationship is there between the messages the text sends about courage and the two words on the Woodridge uniform? Does the text propose that people who strongly believe in virtue will automatically have courage, or are these two separate goals that people need to work toward? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about how the text defines courage and how characterization, plot, and textual details work together to support this definition.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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