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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. How many dollars did Francisco earn in exchange for delivering Christmas presents for Mrs. Hancock?

2. What position at the college did Rafael Hernandez inhabit when Jimenez first befriended him?

3. Which member of Francisco's father's family lived in Tlaquepaque?

4. One of the people at the Sodality meeting who made offensive comments apologized to Francisco for what action?

5. From what source did Francisco first learn that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated?

Short Essay Questions

1. What parallel does Jimenez draw between regression and oppression in the scene of his father's drunken tirade?

2. How did Jimenez meet the person referred to in the chapter title "Soul Mate"?

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

4. What alarming object tumbled out of the Jimenez patriarch's pocket just before the arrival of the police?

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

6. Discuss an instance when Jimenez uses a literary device to underscore the theme of collectivism.

7. In what way is the act of taking initiative portrayed in a positive light within Reaching Out?

8. What special significance did the Thanksgiving holiday hold for Jimenez and why?

9. What news did Jimenez receive about his father's situation in Mexico during the second half of Jimenez's sophomore year of college?

10. What was Jimenez's single piece of knowledge about Sodality life before his conversation with Father O'Neill?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In what way does Jimenez utilize irony within the text? Discuss at least three uses of irony within Reaching Out and explore each instance's connection to larger themes contained within the piece.

Essay Topic 2

How does Jimenez’s use of the first person point of view to tell his own story serve the purposes of the text? Discuss how Jimenez’s choice of point of view helps to advance the treatment of at least three particular themes within the text.

Essay Topic 3

What messages does Jimenez send to readers about the themes of isolation and outreach?

(see the answer keys)

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