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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. Why does Maniac take Mars Bar to the Pickwells?

2. Why does Maniac allow the McNab boys to continue asking him to do the feats?

3. What are the raisins in the McNab house?

4. What does Amanda do to wake up Maniac at the zoo?

5. What do the McNab brothers do when they discover that they were actually with Maniac--the famous guy?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Maniac and Mars Bar find their way back into each other's lives?

2. What comparison does Maniac make between Hester and Lester and Russell and Piper in chapter 40?

3. How does Amanda get her way in the final chapter of the novel?

4. What are the McNabs building in their house and why?

5. At the end of Chapter 33, in January, what does Maniac decide about his life?

6. How does Mars Bar's rescue of Russell help change the prejudices of the town?

7. Why does Maniac work so hard to get Russell and Piper to go to school?

8. What relationships have been solidified by the end of the novel?

9. Why does Maniac knowingly let the McNab boys give him crazy feats to perform?

10. What happens to Russell and why can't Maniac save him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Why doesn't Maniac go to school? How does this decision affect Maniac, as well as the other major characters in the story?

Essay Topic 3

Why is Maniac able to fit into both the black community and the white community? Since he can do this, what does he see that others who cannot fit in don't see?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,125 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample