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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. In one of the clashes between the poor white neighborhood and the new black housing development, what happens to a young black girl?

2. Feeling the power of the gun after shooting at a gang chasing him, McCall goes home in Part I and almost confesses all he has done to whom?

3. What kind of vehicle does McCall's stepfather drive that is also a cause for tension at McCall's job?

4. In Chapter 23, McCall is considering a career in either journalism or what?

5. Looking for something else after the scam in Chapter 16, McCall robs a McDonald's and is sentenced to how many years?

Short Essay Questions

1. When the new housing development is built for blacks, what does McCall describe as the stated goal and the perceived goal for this project?

2. In Part I of the book, why does McCall think a junior high school was built near the black housing development?

3. How does McCall relate what happens with the manual prison labor in Chapter 19 with his stepfather's teachings?

4. In Part I, why does McCall envy the dirty white children running around in a restaurant?

5. While driving around after graduation and not finding place to meet up with friends, what does McCall mean when he cites this driving around as an analogy of his life at this point?

6. McCall's relationship with Elisabeth Miller keeps him off the streets but raises a different issue. Explain.

7. Why does McCall dislike his stepfather's behavior with white people?

8. In the opening chapter when McCall, along with others, is beating the young white boy, what is going on in McCall's head?

9. In Part I, McCall describes the power he gets from having a gun. How does this affect him?

10. In Chapter ,4 McCall is now in a black junior high school, but he is still the new kid; what are some things he does to help him fit in?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Part I of the book there are several instances that support the theme of juvenile invincibility that is felt by a young McCall and and his friends. Discuss this theme and provide details from Part I that illustrate this feeling of invincibility among McCall and other young boys described by McCall during this part of his life. What were the more effective glimpses into this mentality provided by McCall in this part of the book and why?

Essay Topic 2

In Part II of the book, how does McCall's incarceration and the people he meets while incarcerated affect his thinking and perceptions? Use specific examples and explain why chose those examples.

Essay Topic 3

Explain McCall's conflict about deciding whether to join a gang while in prison or walk away (Part II of book, Chapter 17-23). Also discuss how this conflict illustrates McCall's growing maturity.

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