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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 one book Hudes reads in her freshman year of high school?

2. Who was the one Perez who could pull Hudes onto the dance floor?

3. Why does Hudes's mother leave her father?

4. What animal does Hudes's mother keep in the backyard?

5. What do Sedo's children call Virginia on the phone?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Hudes's memories of Mary Lou?

2. In Chapter 6, what does Sharon tell Hudes on the day of the wedding?

3. How do the children treat Hudes in kindergarten in Malvern?

4. In Chapter 2, what kind of garden does Hudes's mother plant?

5. In Chapter 13, what does Sedo buy for Hudes and how does it affect her?

6. How do strangers often react when they see Hudes and her mother together?

7. In Chapter 3, what does Hudes's father say when she asks him if God is real?

8. In Chapter 6, how does Hudes spend her father's wedding?

9. What does Hudes's father sometimes do for a living?

10. Why do Hudes's parents split up?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Hudes react when some older writers express surprise and even skepticism that she is writing with such frankness about her Puerto Rican family and their traditions? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Why does Hudes sometimes feel awkward in her youth and adolescence around her Puerto Rican family and cousins? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does Hudes describe her trance-like experiences while writing? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 506 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample