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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 was the main reason Lencho came over to talk to Manny during lunch on the first day he did so?

2. Why did Nardo have a hard time climbing inside his bedroom window when he was trying to sneak back inside the house?

3. What did Manny use to keep Pedi occupied while he was watching her during Magda's date with her secret boyfriend?

4. What did Miss Van der Meer do when she realized Manny did not understand her literary reference to Hotspur?

5. What part of Malcolm's body did Chico run into that knocked him unconscious?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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 was it so important to Miguel that Lencho win the boxing match against Boise?

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

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

8. 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?

9. Though at first Rebecca claimed it was their lack of money that was keeping her from taking Magda back to the hospital after her fever kept rising, what did she finally admit was the real reason?

10. Who were the Berets?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 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

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,584 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample