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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 Ana use to dig?

2. What does Leona take with her to see the city?

3. How old was Leona’s grandma when she died?

4. Why does Wendell say the beans were lucky to have lived?

5. What does Sam note at the end of his Chapter about the garden?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Leona want to plant goldenrod?

2. How does Leona finally convince the city officials to meet with her?

3. Why do you think Ana attempts to correct her mistake?

4. Why does Kim’s family keep a photo of their father at an alter?

5. What is the “Garcia Equation”?

6. Why do you think Kim wants to remain hidden when she plants?

7. What are Leona’s experiences with calling the city?

8. Why do you think Wendell becomes attached to the bean plants, as Ana did?

9. Why does Kim plant beans in the vacant lot?

10. What does Gonzalo learn about his equation by the end of the chapter “Gonzalo”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sae Young has had a very difficult life, as has Wendell. Compare the lives of these two characters, and their reactions to those lives. How do their very difference experiences lead them to the same place? What does this say about human tragedy, and our responses to such tragedies?

Essay Topic 2

How does the author use the characters to intertwine with one another? Going back through the novel, can you see links in each story to other characters? Give at least four examples of this. Why do you think the character added some of these connected details?

Essay Topic 3

Gonzalo learns a valuable lesson in the novel as he witnesses his father being less than perfect. This moment has a profound impact on him in the book, as his emotions follow the realization. Explain how Gonzalo’s processing of his father’s imperfections leads him to an understanding about his father. What did Gonzalo learn?

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This section contains 783 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample