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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 is Steve worried that his father sees when he looks down at him?

2. What is the name of the prisoner who wants to read Steve's screenplay?

3. King says that all you need to get paid is a "crew with some heart" and what else?

4. The opening credits of the movie in Chapter 1 are designed to look like the opening credits of what famous film?

5. When we first see Steve in the screenplay description in the first chapter, what is lying on his cot next to him?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. What does Mr. Nesbitt look like in the pictures the prosecution passes around to the jury?

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

5. What is Steve doing when the police come to arrest him and take him away from home?

6. What is so shocking about Steve's father crying?

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

8. When does Steve say he feels most involved with his case?

9. In his journal notes for Tuesday, July 7, why does Steve say he needs to keep thinking of the movie?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

This novel features a family where there are two parents, yet somehow Steve still managed to get into trouble. Analyze the roles Steve's parents play in his life, including before, during, and after prison. What characterizes his relationship with his parents? What responsibility do they have for him getting in trouble (if any) and what are the ways in which they tried to help him out of trouble?

Essay Topic 2

The fact that Steve is African American plays an important role in the way his court case seems to go, as well as in the way he feels about himself. Describe and analyze the role that race plays in this narrative. You may want to include examples from other characters, white and black, to make your case.

Essay Topic 3

A major theme of this book is identity, particularly how Steve's identity is constructed or maintained. Write an analytical essay considering the ways in which Walter Dean Myers makes identity a theme. What are the symbolic or linguistic strategies Myers has employed to communicate and investigate Steve's identity? Be sure to offer a descriptive analysis of Steve's identity and identity crisis, using specific examples.

(see the answer keys)

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