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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. Where did Rebecca tell Magda to go once she and Manny had returned home from the pool hall?

2. What did Manny's mother do upon hearing him curse?

3. What does the Spanish word "perico" (51) mean?

4. What item did Manny have his eye on that caused him to want to work in the fields to earn money?

5. About how many people started running when the Immigration vans showed up at the pepper fields?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of Manny's daydream about being on the baseball team and having people looking at him?

2. What caused Rebecca to think that Manuel was somewhere in the pool hall even though Rico told her that Manuel had gone home?

3. What was the main reason Nardo was reluctant to work in the fields?

4. What parallel did Manny draw between his grandfather Ignacio's personality and his own personality?

5. How does the theme of domestic violence arise sharply within the scene when Manuel returns from his two-day drinking binge?

6. What is ironic about Nardo being the one that "jeered at the [Immigration] officers" the loudest as the people were led away and put into vans?

7. What was the lost job that Nardo missed the most and why?

8. Why was it so uncomfortable for Manny to be within the weighing area where the chili peppers were weighed out for measuring how much each person would be paid?

9. Why was Manuel immediately furious when he saw Manny get out of Mr. Hart's car?

10. What kind of relationship did Manny's father and mother have?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the effect of alcoholism on the health of the Hernandez family. What conflicts are a direct result of alcohol abuse and what is the author's subsequent message regarding alcoholism and its effect on families? Support your points with concrete details from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Victor Martinez cites one of his main literary influences as the poet William Carlos Williams, who is famous for his philosophy of literature that states, “There are no ideas but in things” (216). Discuss the meaning of this literary philosophy and explain how Parrot in the Oven displays its use. Use textual details to support your discussion.

Essay Topic 3

Weather is often described by the author in great detail, particularly within significant scenes. Choose three scenes in which the author describes the weather and discuss how weather is used to set a particular mood for each scene. Use quotes from the novel to support your claims.

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