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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. In Mr. Secrets, Chapter 1, what does Rodriguez's mother beg him not to do?

2. When he is a child, what do people say about Rodriguez's complexion?

3. How does Rodriguez describe the 1960s student?

4. According to Rodriguez, what did some sympathetic professors do for black students who were struggling?

5. How do Rodriguez's friends affect his religious practices?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Rodriguez's ideas about dark skin change as he grows up? Give specific examples.

2. What kind of social life does Rodriguez have? Does he have lots of friends and girlfriends?

3. What does Rodriguez decide to do about a job?

4. As a child, what does Rodriguez learn about dark skin?

5. What does Rodriguez's mother tell him about writing about their family? What does his editor tell him?

6. What does Rodriguez think about the current system of affirmative action? Give two examples he uses to support his argument.

7. How does Rodriguez describe his mother's interaction with the public world? Give specific examples.

8. How does Rodriguez overcome his attitudes about dark skin? Give two specific examples.

9. What does Rodriguez learn from working with the construction workers? Give two specific examples.

10. Rodriguez looks at the students of the 1960s and 1970s from a teacher's perspective. What does he see as the difference between them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Would it have been better for Rodriguez to attend a non-Catholic school when he was younger? Use specific examples from the text to support your argument.

Essay Topic 2

Rodriguez spends a lot of time analyzing his education and how it affected him.

Part One: What lessons can a minority student draw from his story? What lessons can any student draw from his story?

Part Two: What lessons can the parent of a minority student draw from his story? What lessons can the parent of any student draw from his story?

Part Three: What lessons can the teachers of minority students draw from his story? What lessons can any teacher draw from his story?

Based on that, to what group(s) of people would you recommend this book? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Part One: What does Rodriguez argue about bilingual education? Explain his argument thoroughly and give specific examples that he uses to support his argument.

Part Two: Do you agree with Rodriguez's arguments? Why or why not? Provide your own examples to support your argument.

(see the answer keys)

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