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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. How do the Pickwells know when it is dinnertime?

2. How does Amanda's mom act when she first meets Maniac?

3. After leaving the East End, where does Maniac stay?

4. Who specifically has tried to untie the knot before Maniac?

5. By Christmas, where has Grayson moved?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Maniac's life tale may be bigger than he actually is. What begins the exaggeration in Chapter 2?

4. Why won't Maniac go to school?

5. How does Grayson handle the unconscious Maniac when he discovers him in the buffalo pen?

6. The fact that Maniac takes a nap during the untying of the famous knot says a lot about the way he perceives the event. What does it say?

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

8. What is Grayson so curious about that he obviously has no understanding of during his meal with Maniac at the diner?

9. How does the Beale household change now that Maniac lives there?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why doesn't Maniac choose to remain at the Pickwell house? Why does he not choose this loving family as his own when he knows that they would embrace him? What does this say about Maniac's past and his future?

Essay Topic 2

How is Amanda the staying power for Maniac? What makes her different from everyone else that he encounters? How does she ultimately change Maniac?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the protagonist of the story. Why is this character the protagonist? What is the character trying to accomplish? Who is the antagonist? Why is this antagonist trying to stop the protagonist from accomplishing his/her goal?

(see the answer keys)

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