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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 buy at the end of the chapter titled “Ana”?

2. Where is Kim from?

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

4. Where is Gonzalo from?

5. What does Sam grow?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Gonzalo end up having to “babysit” his uncle?

2. What is the problem with water in the lot, and how does Sam deal with it?

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

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

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

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

7. What tragedies has Wendell experienced, and what are the effects on his life?

8. How do the plants give Wendell hope?

9. Why does Kim wonder about whether her father sees her?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Royce does not have a chapter in the novel, and yet he is mentioned by several characters. Who mentions him, and why? What does Royce’s character bring to the novel that enhances the author’s message? What is Royce’s background, and how do people see him originally? How does this change over the course of the novel, and why?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Several times in the novel, the characters mention that the community garden gives them hope. Wendell, in particular, notes that he can’t change his life, but he can use the garden to change his circumstances. Sae Young, too, uses the garden to enhance her existence, as does Nora, and other characters. Choose three characters, and explain how the garden has given them hope, or changed their lives.

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