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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. Why does Kim plant something?

2. What does Sam notice about the gardeners, in terms of location?

3. What does Sam note is a hobby of his?

4. What does Ana see Kim doing the following day, after Ana dug something up?

5. Who does Ana see burying something from her window?

Short Essay Questions

1. Kim mentions crying for a different reason than her sisters. What does she mean by this?

2. What is the “Garcia Equation”?

3. Why does Leona want to plant goldenrod?

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

5. How does Sam try to make people in the neighborhood friendlier?

6. Why do you think Tio Juan becomes “childish” in the book?

7. What is the cultural problem Sam finds about the lot?

8. Do you think Ana was right to go dig up something she thought was trouble?

9. At the end of this chapter “Sam,” why does Sam claim the garden is a reflection of Cleveland?

10. What were Leona’s grandmother’s experiences with doctors?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Suspicion of others is a major theme in the novel, as there are many who are suspicious of their neighbors in this particular area. How does the garden help these individuals to lower their guard with one another? What is the garden able to do that merely living together does not do?

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

Throughout the novel, the characters mention fighting a number of stereotypes. Choose three characters from the book, and explain how their lives have been impacted by the stereotypes either about them, held by others, or held by them about others. How do these stereotypes damage their relationships with others? What, if anything, changes them in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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