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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. Father Sean states that he had "wanted to be" (152) what throughout most of his life?

2. For what purpose does Xiomara ask to meet with Father Sean in the poem "Heavy" (224)?

3. The poem entitled "Music" (141) ends with an invocation of which human sense?

4. What element does Xiomara NOT name as something she would miss desperately if she were to leave?

5. What is NOT a quality of the young man who emerges from school alongside Xavier?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the theme of deception appear within the relationship between Xiomara and Caridad?

2. What event causes Xiomara to wonder about the qualities of silence and its possible destructive nature?

3. Discuss Xiomara's use of personification in the poem entitled "Silent World" (223).

4. What is on the list of prohibited behaviors Xiomara includes in the poem entitled "What I Don't Tell Aman" (148)?

5. To whom is Xiomara talking when she thinks about people being told that their bodies cannot do certain things?

6. What experience does Xiomara have with receiving compliments?

7. How does Xiomara comfort Xavier during his emotional breakdown?

8. Who is Cody?

9. What is the cause of Xavier's emotional breakdown within the narrative?

10. What event causes Xiomara to break up with Aman?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the reasons why Acevedo uses both the first person point-of-view and the structure of a verse novel to tell Xiomara’s story in the The Poet X. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what is Acevedo's intended effect on the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Look carefully at the passages of the novel that describe the close, yet somewhat tentative, relationship between Xiomara and Xavier. What is Acevedo's purpose for discussing at length the nature of the connection between these two teenage siblings?

Essay Topic 3

In what way is the theme of family bonds included and portrayed within the novel The Poet X?

(see the answer keys)

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