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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 solution that Manny did NOT wish Rebecca would choose in response to Manuel's attempt to shoot her?

2. What claim to fame did Coach Rogers have that everyone knew about, even Manny's dad from when he had been in school?

3. Why was Manny certain that Lencho would not beat him up for teasing him from across the school yard?

4. What analogy did Manny use to describe how little attention Miss Van der Meer paid to him?

5. What question did Malcolm Augustus, Chico's opponent, know the answer to when no one else in Manny's biology class had known?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Nardo have a particularly difficult time in the first few hours of hard work he and Manny did in their grandmother's yard?

2. What made Chico want to back out of his scheduled boxing match at the last minute?

3. How does Manny's act of nearly shooting his little sister Pedi play into the novel's theme regarding the power of choice?

4. Why was Manny so reluctant to let Nardo go into Grandma Rosa's house to fix them some Kool-Aid?

5. Why did Manuel assume that Grandma Rosa's house would go to Rebecca and what were his plans for it when that happened?

6. Who were the Berets?

7. What is the author's purpose in letting the reader know that Malcolm, Chico's opponent, had been the only one in Biology class to know what volume of blood is produced when a girl has her period?

8. How does Miss Van der Meer's classroom represent the theme of racial inequality?

9. What did the argument between Magda and her mother Rebecca concerning Magda ruining her future show about Magda's character?

10. What did Manuel do after he got out of bed and realized what had happened to Magda?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many characters within the novel exemplify pervasive stereotypes about Mexican-Americans, including Nardo's laziness, Manuel's violent nature, and Rebecca's passivity in the face of abuse. Write an argumentative essay about whether or not the novel should be read in schools. Support your points with concrete details from the narrative.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Examine the topic of work within the novel. Look at Manny's description of inheriting his grandfather Ignacio's "useful blood" (6) and the contrasting attitudes toward work displayed by Nardo and Manuel. Look also at other discussions of work and ambition in the novel, such as Manny's pronouncement of Albert's risky decision to join the boxing team since he was academically inclined, and pull concrete details from those examples to support your claims.

(see the answer keys)

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