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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 what way does Maniac get his schooling?

2. What does the boy give to Maniac while he is untying the knot?

3. What is Maniac running on that amazes the Pickwell children?

4. What does Maniac eat at the diner?

5. What do Maniac and Grayson do on Thanksgiving Day in the cold?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Maniac walk right out of town after he realizes that the encyclopedia has been used for confetti?

2. 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?

3. Why do Maniac and Grayson decorate a tree in the woods?

4. What does the reader learn about Maniac's personality through the scene of Mars Bar and Maniac and the candy bar?

5. How does Maniac help others and what are his motives in doing so?

6. How is Maniac blind?

7. How might Amanda Beale's character be a good match for Maniac?

8. How does Maniac manage to infuriate McNab and does he do it on purpose?

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is Maniac's inner conflict? What is the resolution of that conflict? Do you think the resolution of the conflict will be permanent? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

What are the flashbacks in the novel? What is the author's purpose in using the flashbacks?

(see the answer keys)

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