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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. What does Jessie's mom say her other children could sleep through?

2. What does Jessie discover about the common areas of Clifton in Chapter 8?

3. In Chapter 1, why does Jessie say she is glad to not be a grown-up?

4. Why does Ma say she moved to Clifton?

5. In Chapter 5, what makes Jesse dizzy?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when Jessie walks Katie home before she leaves Clifton?

2. How does Jessie get inside the bread truck?

3. What does Ma reveal to Jessie about Clifton?

4. In Chapter 6, what things does Jessie overhear Clifton employees talk about?

5. In Chapter 8, what does Jessie realize about her life in Clifton?

6. In Chapter 10, how does Jessie try to leave Clifton grounds?

7. What does Jessie think when she first sees a row of school buses?

8. What does Jessie do after leaving the bathroom in Chapter 7?

9. When Jessie sees the Clifton school house from the outside in Chapter 9, what happens?

10. In Chapter 8, how does Jessie almost give away her true identity?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the plot development of "Running Out of Time", and then compare it to a traditional plot arc. What elements line up between these two? What do not? How do the elements of the plot of this novel strengthen the reader's interest?

Essay Topic 2

Explore the message the author provides about the relationship between adults and children. Are these two groups at odds with each other as enemies, or do they work together? How does the relationship change? What does this relationship reveal?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the adults in this novel that live in Clifton and the adults who live in 1996. What makes these similarities and differences significant? How do their similarities and differences affect the development of the plot?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 873 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample