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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 Little Man say that Mam had told him to stay away from Ara T in Chapter 3?

2. How many stitches did Rat get after crashing his bike on concrete stairs, according to Little Man in Chapter 8?

3. Who is the author of Being and Time?

4. On what day of the week is Little Man to pick up payments on his newspaper route?

5. What word does Little Man's mother confuse with "genetic" when he overhears her talking with his father in Chapter 7?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Rat's real name? What is Rat's relationship to Little Man?

2. Why is Little Man's real name not revealed in the beginning of the story? How is he referred to in the text?

3. What plans does Little Man make with his father in Chapter 8? What becomes of the plans?

4. What do Little Man and Mr. Spiro discuss when Little Man comes by on Friday for collection in Chapter 5?

5. What does Little Man discover on his birth certificate in Chapter 7? How does he respond to this information?

6. Who is Big Sack? What is this character's relationship to Little Man?

7. What is a stutter? How is Little Man's stutter depicted in the narrative of Paperboy?

8. What are Little Man's first impressions of Mr. Spiro? How is Mr. Spiro described?

9. Why does Little Man refuse Mam's offer for help with his collections for the newspaper route?

10. What does Little Man encounter when he goes to Mrs. Worthington's home for newspaper payment collection in Chapter 6?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the character of Big Sack in the novel. How does Big Sack know Mam? What does Big Sack do for a living? What role does Big Sack play in the plot of the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Little Man's introduction to his homeroom class in Chapter 20. What does Little Man do in order to overcome his fear of speaking? What does Little Man say about himself?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Little Man's relationship with his father in the novel. What information does Little Man learn that makes him question his father? How is this internal conflict resolved?

(see the answer keys)

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