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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 did Jeannie do for a living during much of Smarsh's life?

2. What did Smarsh say in Chapter 5 that most people associate poverty with?

3. Where did Jeannie start her third kindergarten?

4. Who was Betty's "brainy" older brother?

5. Who was Jeannie's new boyfriend in Part IV?

Short Essay Questions

1. What made Betty's poverty more tolerable to other people, in Smarsh's opinion?

2. Why does Smarsh go to live with her grandparents just before turning 11?

3. How does Smarsh win an essay contest in fifth grade in Part III?

4. What does Smarsh say is a big differences between the poor and the middle-and-upper-class families who make mistakes?

5. What does it mean to Smarsh when Arnie tells her in Part III that she is smart?

6. How did Jeannie's boyfriend, also named Bob, treat Smarsh?

7. In Part III, what does Smarsh's father do to her that she is very hurt by?

8. What habit does Smarsh pick up in Part III that she sometimes tells God she will try to stop?

9. Why did Betty leave Ray, Jeannie's father?

10. In Part III, what is Smarsh's stepmother Chris like?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did losing, and then reconnecting many years later, with her son Bo (Robert) affect Betty? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text to help support your claims.

Essay Topic 2

When Smarsh was ten years old, she went to live primarily with her grandmother Betty and Arnie. Write an essay exploring how Smarsh felt about this arrangement, focusing on her feelings about her own mother's reaction to it.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 7, how does Smarsh say she knows she is finally no longer poor? What does her large new house represent to her? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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