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

2. What fruit is Xiomara always unable to resist?

3. What plan do Xiomara and Xavier make for Halloween night?

4. Xavier comes home with what visible evidence of a beating?

5. In the poem "In Translation" (234), Xiomara describes Mami's lips as what objects?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Cody?

2. What writing prompt leads Xiomara to write about the feeling of being heard?

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

4. How does Xavier keep his parents from finding out about Cody, though he has been crying about the break-up for days?

5. For what purpose does Xiomara use the metaphor of a balloon to describe her feelings when she sees Cody?

6. Who is ultimately in charge of determining whether Xiomara's behavior is correct or not?

7. In what way does the theme of appearance versus reality appear within Xiomara's fight with Mami about Aman?

8. About what topic does Xiomara have hope, as discussed in her poem "Hope is a Thing with Wings" (263)?

9. How is the power of communication depicted in Xiomara's rough draft of Assignment 4?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the function of Caridad’s character within the novel? Discuss the characterization methods used by Acevedo in depicting Caridad and include in your discussion the reasons that Acevedo portrays Caridad in these particular ways.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Acevedo's messages about guilt and responsibility within The Poet X. Focus especially on events such as the responsibility Xiomara feels concerning her duty to protect Xavier from a cruel and savage world.

Essay Topic 3

Sensory details are used frequently by Acevedo in order to underscore character traits, novel themes, and even political stances on particular social issues. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used by Acevedo serve particular purposes within the narrative of The Poet X.

(see the answer keys)

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