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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 Chapter 23, what is the name of the former teacher McCall encounters and wishes to tell that his lessons made a difference?

2. McCall vows to do what he can to help but has no idea what to do when his girlfriend tells him what?

3. When McCall writes to the college in Chapter 23, he explains his situation and asks for what?

4. After McCall and his friends beat the young man in Chapter 1, what does McCall admit he feared for a moment?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does McCall refer to the fighting of whites and among groups and gangs, in Chapter 7 as "dress rehearsal?"

2. What scam do Elisabeth and McCall run in Chapter 15?

3. When several of McCall's friends decide to drop out of school, why does McCall stay in school?

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

5. Why is McCall relieved when he is realizes he will have to serve at least 18 months in jail of his sentence of several years for robbing McDonald's?

6. How does McCall's advancing knowledge from Jim in Chapter 22 affect McCall's perception of blacks and education?

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

8. Why do McCall and his stepfather clash about work in Chapter 10?

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

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

Discuss the significance of McCall's approval of unusual names for black babies in relation to his need to rebel against all things mainstream.

Essay Topic 2

How are the people in McCall's life, outside of the prison, affected by his incarceration? (His son, Elisabeth, his parents, siblings, grandmother, etc.)

Essay Topic 3

In Part III of the book, McCall describes his relationship with Yvette, her challenges with being inferior and the Muslim principle that women hold an inferior position in the home. Looking at McCall's upbringing, his relationship with his mother and his mother's role in McCall's home, how do the two outlooks, situations, etc. clash? Why does McCall have problems with this Muslim principle and how much of this is due to his upbringing and his mother's role in the home?

(see the answer keys)

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