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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Mr. P taught what subject while also being the only teacher who "always smiled at screwed-up kids like" (72) Anderson?
(a) Social Studies.
(b) Biology.
(c) French.
(d) Precalculus.

2. How old was Anderson's father when he saw his friend killed in front of him?
(a) 21.
(b) 18.
(c) 24.
(d) 16.

3. What kind of burns are said to have the potential to be lethal?
(a) Rug.
(b) Concrete.
(c) Rope.
(d) Sun.

4. In the poem entitled "Directionally Challenged," Anderson describes getting lost on her way to what location?
(a) Home.
(b) The bus stop.
(c) The library.
(d) School.

5. In what location did Anderson's parents live while they waited for Anderson's mother's mouth to heal and for her false teeth to arrive?
(a) With his parents at the coast.
(b) With her parents at the coast.
(c) With her parents in the mountains.
(d) With his aunts in the mountains.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Anderson's drug of choice throughout her early high school years?

2. When Anderson began swimming all over town, what were all the pools made of?

3. Anderson takes up what sport in the winter of her 10th grade year?

4. The children's book author Russell Hoban wrote children's books about a family of what type of animals?

5. When Anderson's father saw his friend die in front of him, they were both repairing airplanes in what location?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way does Anderson employ foreshadowing within her poetry memoir?

2. What painful realization does Anderson have during high school in relation to her parents?

3. To what element of life is the metaphor of "chum" connected in the poem of the same name?

4. What traumatic experience did Anderson's father undergo at age 18?

5. What is ironic about the experience that teaches Anderson that some words are too powerful to be expressed aloud?

6. What experience did Anderson's father undergo while working in the concentration camps that helped him heal just a little bit?

7. What do the lifeguards symbolize within the poem entitled "chum"?

8. In what form is Anderson's memoir written and which of the text’s goals does this choice help Anderson to fulfill?

9. According to Anderson, what element is necessary in order to heal from the trauma of sexual violence?

10. What types of allusions does Anderson use to depict her father's secrecy about his traumatic war experiences?

(see the answer keys)

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