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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 does Rodriguez feel when he observes the group of black teenagers on the bus?

2. What does Rodriguez say about how the people around him now say his name?

3. How well can Rodriguez speak English when he starts school?

4. Does Rodriguez think his religious education had the effect it was supposed to?

5. What does Rodriguez call the English-speaking people his family interacts with?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Rodriguez suggest education does to the scholarship boy? Why does he say that?

2. Beyond the simple accomplishment of learning another language, what importance does Rodriguez place on learning English?

3. Why does Rodriguez talk about how the rich people pronounce his name?

4. How does Rodriguez feel about his education?

5. How does Rodriguez feel as his education comes to an end?

6. What does Rodriguez identify as the pros and cons of bilingual education?

7. What is special or different about the school Rodriguez attends? How does that affect him later in life?

8. What is Rodriguez's initial attitude about reading? What happens to him because of that attitude? What do his parents think about reading?

9. What does Rodriguez say about how bilingual education affects the intersection of public and private languages?

10. Why is Rodriguez writing this book? Identify two reasons.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Rodriguez's parents, focusing on the following areas:

1) Their education

2) Their attitudes toward the "public" world

3) Their attitudes toward Richard and his education

If Rodriguez was going to try to talk to one of them about the loneliness and distance he feels from them, which one should he pick? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Rodriguez repeatedly describes his experience of moving from a small, sheltered, or narrow world to a larger, less protected, more broad-minded world as he grows up. As he grows up, his views change on:

1) Skin color

2) Religion

3) The importance of language as a way to develop intimacy

4) Books

Choose at least two of those. Identify what Rodriguez's original opinion or idea was, what he later starts to believe, and what events in his life led him to change his perspective.

Essay Topic 3

Rodriguez tells his mother that there are some things it is easier to discuss with a stranger than with a family member.

Part One: What specific things do you think Rodriguez would rather discuss with a stranger than with his family members?

Part Two: Do you agree with his statement? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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