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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. Who drove when the family started out on their journey to take Francisco to college?

2. In what year did Francisco leave home to attend college in California?

3. At what time of the morning did upperclassmen bang on the door of Francisco and Smokey to force them to learn a song?

4. In what grade was Francisco when he and his brother Roberto lived together without their other family members?

5. In what sort of residence did Roberto and Francisco live alone in the United States for a number of months?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe an instance when Jimenez uses a simile in order to underscore the nature of a particular emotion.

2. What unexpected benefit comes from Jimenez's donning of a green uniform for ROTC?

3. Discuss a scene in which Jimenez employs sensory details in order to create a particular mood.

4. Discuss a time in the memoir when Jimenez makes a connection between racism and some other form of prejudice.

5. In what way does the theme of shame emerge within the chapter of Reaching Out entitled "A Compromise"?

6. For what length of time did the Jimenez family live in the United States after their first arrival there?

7. What major event is taking place at the time of the memoir's opening?

8. What did a green uniform used to signify for Jimenez and why?

9. What has been the nickname of Jimenez's little brother Jose Francisco throughout the boys' lives and why?

10. Discuss a time in the memoir when Jimenez uses the motif of dreams to highlight the emotional messages within a particular scene.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Jimenez’s use of Aristotle's appeals within the text of the memoir Reaching Out. How does Jimenez use each of the three appeals to persuade the reader of points central to the overall messages of the work?

Essay Topic 2

How is the theme of invisibility portrayed in Reaching Out? Examine Jimenez's treatment of and messages regarding invisibility throughout the work.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the significance of the final passages included at the end of Reaching Out.

(see the answer keys)

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