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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. When Manny described a fight he had once seen at the pool hall, what did he say about it?

2. How many pool tables did Manny's dad's favorite pool hall have?

3. What object did Manuel use to signal Manny that he wanted him to go his room?

4. Though Stinky was in Manny's grade at school, how much older was he than Manny?

5. Why did Manny decide against calling his dad for a ride home from his school?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. What is significant about how Rebecca behaved during the scene in which the police came into the Hernandez's home?

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

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

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

6. What is the significance of Manuel's words to Manny after he snatched the $20l from Manny's pocket?

7. What effect does the simile have on the reader when Manny saw a van coming toward the fields and described it as "approaching like a dog sneaking up on a bush" (13)?

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

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

10. Why did Mr. Hart take a roundabout way when he took Manny home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many characters within the novel have conflicted feelings about race--their own and others'. Choose at least three scenes in which the author demonstrates the complicated nature of race relations and use quotes from the novel to support your claims about the novel's treatment of race.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how the themes of truth and lies are interwoven within the novel’s narrative. Create a strong, specific claim and support it with concrete details from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Write a feminist criticism essay of the novel, using textual evidence to back up your strong, specific claim regarding the treatment of gender roles in the book.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,587 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample