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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. On what holiday did members of the Jimenez family retrieve their patriarch from jail?

2. How old was Francisco when he tried to teach himself how to pick a particular crop?

3. Which of Francisco's siblings almost died during the time the family lived in Tent City?

4. Father O'Neill taught a class in the History of what subject?

5. What is a curandera?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which classes constituted Jimenez's favorites during the first semester of his sophomore year?

2. How does Jimenez characterize the emotions he felt upon returning to the University of Santa Clara to begin his sophomore year?

3. What major obstacle did Jimenez face upon returning to the University of Santa Clara to begin his sophomore year and how did he overcome it?

4. What advice did Jimenez's father always give him about friendship?

5. What objects in Emily's family kitchen are used by Jimenez to symbolize his own feelings of belonging and shared understanding?

6. For what specific reason did Jimenez feel grateful to have known Rafael Hernandez?

7. In which two ways was Laura different than every other student in the Latin American Literature class?

8. What milestone does Jimenez depict in the relationship between his mother and father within the chapter entitled "At a Loss"?

9. What motivation drove Jimenez to try to teach himself how to pick cotton at the age of six?

10. What event caused Jimenez and Laura to have to spend more time together after they strike up an acquaintance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Jimenez’s use of the motif of sound within the nonfiction work Reaching Out.

Essay Topic 2

What is Jimenez's message regarding a particular shift in worldview that needs to occur for a particular group of people and why?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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This section contains 995 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample