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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 did Manny suspect was Albert's real reason for joining the boxing team?

2. What was the name of Grandma Rosa's cat?

3. When she did not have enough money to buy a new dress for the funeral, what did Rebecca buy instead with the little money she had?

4. What did Manny describe as the two main activities that students did in Miss Van der Meer's English classes?

5. What did Nardo do just before he went to bed on the night he climbed into the bedroom window?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. When Grandma Rosa emerged from the house while Manny and Nardo were working in her hard, what memories did she tell the boys about?

5. How does the way in which the hospital receptionist treated the Hernandez family highlight the theme of same-race discrimination?

6. When the fight was not going well for Lencho and Miguel screamed at him to attack Boise, what reason did Manny give for wanting to scream at Miguel to shut his mouth?

7. What actions did Manny hope Rebecca would take in response to Manuel's abusive actions that resulted in his being jailed?

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

9. When Magda came home and her family rushed her to the hospital, what symptoms was she exhibiting and to what prognosis did her symptoms point?

10. Why is it ironic for Lencho to be kicked out of the Berets after losing his boxing match to Boise?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

Explicate the theme of trust within the novel, particularly in relation to the novel's title. What is the author's message regarding trust and how do you know? Use specific concrete details from the novel to support your claim.

Essay Topic 3

Trace the characterization arc of Manny’s character throughout the novel. Discuss whether he is a round or flat character and whether he is a static or dynamic character. Use concrete details to support your claims.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,550 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample