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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 drink did Nardo go inside Grandma Rosa's to get when he and Manny were almost done with the yard work at Grandma Rosa's house?

2. Where did Manny suspect that the bullet had lodged when he had narrowly missed accidentally shooting Pedi?

3. What did the Berets believe was the one purpose of white people?

4. What feature had the city wanted to build when they had torn down most of the houses around Grandma Rosa's place?

5. What simile did the author use to describe the weather on the day of Grandma Rosa's funeral?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did the various family members act differently from one another at the wake for Grandma Rosa that was held after the funeral?

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

4. When Manny dreamt of Grandma Rosa the night before her funeral, what happened within his dream and how did he react once he woke up?

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

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

8. Who were the Berets?

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the author's message regarding romantic love in the novel. State a clear and specific claim regarding this topic and support your claim using concrete details from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the African-American newspaper man's decision not to tell the police that Manny was an accomplice in Eddie's robbery of the woman outside the bank. Why does he make that decision and how do you know? In terms of traditional Western morality, what his decision just? Back up your points with quotes from the robbery scene.

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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