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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 month of the year is Penny finally released from the hospital?

2. What is Pop-pop doing when Penny gets home from the wake?

3. What name does Penny choose for the black and white kitten that Pop-pop gives to her when she returns home from the hospital?

4. Who slaps Uncle Dominic across the face while Penny is recuperating at the hospital?

5. What is Frankie going to attempt to do while carrying out his offer of help to Nonny?

Short Essay Questions

1. Based on the narrative in Chapter 20 of the book, how does Penny's job at Uncle Ralphie's meat market change when she returns to work following her stay in the hospital?

2. Based on the text in the thirteenth chapter of the book, do any misunderstandings occur between Penny and her mother on her Penny's birthday?

3. Based on the narrative in the thirteenth chapter of the book, how is Penny's birthday observed by her father's side of the family?

4. According to the text in Chapter 15 of the book, what are some of the reasons that Penny should not join Frankie in going to the public pool?

5. According to the text in Chapter 20 of the book, do any pleasant things or occurrences take place in Penny's life upon her return from the hospital?

6. According to the narrative in Chapter 16 of the book, how does Penny react in relation to her arm injury?

7. Based on the text in the twelfth chapter of the book, why does Frankie feel justified in treating Aunt Concetta's death as an uneventful occurrence in his life as well as that of Penny's?

8. According to the narrative in Chapter 20 of the book, do any new beings enter Penny's life after she returns home from the hospital?

9. According to the narrative in the twelfth chapter of the book, how does Frankie attempt to turn Aunt Concetta's wake into what he considers to be a fun event for himself?

10. According to the narrative in Chapter 19, what contributes to Penny changing her attitude toward Mr. Mulligan change while she is in the hospital?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout most of the book, the details surrounding Penny's father's demise are kept from Penny by relatives from both her mother's and father's side. Could the basis for keeping such details from Penny be based on the relatives' determination to protect Penny? O to protect her father? Cite text and/or paraphrase scenarios from the book to support your position?

Essay Topic 2

Penny's father's family is large and fun-loving while the family of Penny's mother's is small in number and reserved. Overall, which side of Penny's family - her father's side; or her mother's side seems to influence Penny the most? What side of the family does she have the tendency to like and listen to more? Her mother's side? Or her father's side? Cite examples from the book to support your position.

Essay Topic 3

Around Penny's twelfth birthday, Penny's mother tells her that she received her first piece of jewelry - a pearl necklace - on her own twelfth birthday. Is there an element of foreshadowing in that scenario in the book? If so, what other scenario can be paired with the foregoing one that would support foreshadowing to have occurred? Is there a corresponding event or scenario that parallels the one of Penny's mother telling her about having received the pearl necklace on her twelfth birthday? If so, does the corresponding event or scenario illustrate foreshadowing? Why or why not?

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This section contains 1,026 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample