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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. Which two items are taken away from prisoners, according to Steve?

2. In his journal from Wednesday, July 8, where does Steve say that he does not feel involved with his own case?

3. What stolen goods does Wendell Bolton buy?

4. Which prisoner is sitting on the toilet in the first chapter?

5. What does O'Brien say a termite looks like?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the charges against Wendell Bolden get dropped?

2. Why is Steve's stomach upset on Wednesday, July 8?

3. When Steve decides to write a movie, what does he say it will be a story of?

4. What does Wendell Bolden look and act like?

5. What does James King look like on the first day of the trial?

6. Describe the kind of movie Steve says it feels as if he has stepped into?

7. Why is Steve not hungry on the morning of Monday, July 6?

8. In the prologue, Steve says "they say you get used to being in jail." What is Steve's take on this passage?

9. When the newscaster in Steve's "notes" section of the screenplay asks a passerby if he is shocked by the crime, what is the man's response?

10. When Steve gets dressed for court on Thursday, July 9 and thinks of his mother, what is she doing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

This story relies not only on journal entries, but also on scenes from a screenplay to establish plot, setting, characterization, action, and other fictional elements. Write an analytical essay explaining how Walter Dean Myers establishes Steve's point-of-view in these screenplay scenes. In addition, be sure to include detailed analyses of how this specific point-of-view effectively communicates fictional elements including, but not limited to plot, setting, or characterization.

Essay Topic 2

Steve and King are very different people on trial for the same crime. Write an essay comparing and contrasting these two characters. Be sure to include both examples and details of what they look like, who they are, how they behave, etc., as well as an analysis of the strategies Walter Dean Myers employed to achieve these two different characters.

Essay Topic 3

What does this novel communicate to the reader about personal responsibility and guilt? Write an analysis describing and investigating what Myers thinks about these two issues. Be sure to offer working definitions of each, personal responsibility as well as guilt, and determine, through specific and explicit textual analysis, the ways in which these two issues are similar to each other and/or differ from each other.

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