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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 does Maniac do for fifteen minutes before completing the knot?

2. What is Grayson curious about that he asks Maniac while Maniac eats at the diner?

3. Who does Grayson say took Maniac's buffalo rag clothes away?

4. What does Maniac say to the passersby when he first runs to Two Mills?

5. What do Maniac and Grayson do right after Thanksgiving dinner?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the underlying reason that Maniac wants to leave town after the incident at the fire hydrant party?

2. What stops McNab and the Cobras from chasing Maniac after the home run hit? What does this say about the boys?

3. What do Grayson and Maniac teach each other and how does it affect them?

4. Chapter 14 ends with Mrs. Beale asking Maniac whether he is Maniac or not. He responds saying that he is Jeffrey. She states that in her house he will always be Jeffrey. What does this mean for the two of them?

5. How does Maniac get his nickname?

6. How do the Beale's show that they are not prejudiced people?

7. Right at the start of this novel, the reader knows that the main character is going to have a different life than the normal pre-teen. How so?

8. Why is the big black man so upset that Maniac is playing in the fire hydrant water?

9. Why does Amanda think the Cobble Knot will solve Maniac's problems?

10. Why won't Maniac go to school?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Maniac Magee wonders why Black people are described as being black. How would Maniac rather they be described and what does this say about how Maniac views the stereotype?

Essay Topic 2

The nickname of the Maniac helps turn him into a legend. How so? Use specific examples from the novel. How is this legendary status a drawback for Maniac?

Essay Topic 3

What does Hector Street symbolize? How does the street affect the lives of those in both the East End and the West End?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,097 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample