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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 Valerie tell Bergner about her life that she never told Ryan or Adrian?

2. Two days before Ryan is scheduled to be released from the detention center, what does he do to another child?

3. What does the conductor suggest that Ryan must do by the end of the day in Chapter 5?

4. What kind of work did Cecil, Ryan's father, once perform?

5. What important leader does Ryan's elementary school teacher introduce him to?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 5, what is the conductor, Patrick Summers, worried there might be too much of an emphasis on in opera these days?

2. Why does Valerie get so angry at Cecil when she flies home to her apartment after being stationed in Korea?

3. What is the incident that leads to Ryan's time in the juvenile detention center when he is 12 years old?

4. What does Ryan remember his brother Adrian being really good at as a child, and why was the effect of Adrian's talent on their lives?

5. How does Ryan feel after he gives his father Cecil a tour of the Met in Chapter 7?

6. How does Ryan's second practice session with Patrick Summers go in Chapter 7, after he has worked with the pronunciation coach?

7. In Chapter 7, what is Ryan worried is contributing to his difficulties with Italian pronunciation?

8. Why does Valerie, Ryan's mother, tell Bergner she passed up the opportunity to attend the Air Force Academy?

9. In Chapter 6, what are some of the negative impacts of Valerie's religious beliefs on Ryan and Adrian as they grow up?

10. Why does Valerie still seem bitter about the way Cecil proposed to her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Alan Fischer, the chairman for the vocal music department at the Virginia Governor's School for the Arts, where Ryan receives his first formal vocal training, says that Ryan's acceptance into the program was "an extreme case of serendipity" (137). Write an essay analyzing what Fischer meant by this statement and explain the significance of Ryan's acceptance to the program to his life and later career.

Essay Topic 2

As he is preparing for the second round of the Met's competition for young singers, Ryan encounters many technical challenges and setbacks in refining and enriching his operatic skills. Write an essay analyzing how Ryan chooses to deal with these challenges and his feelings of frustration as he carries out the hard work involved in cultivating his craft.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing why Ryan seems so desperate to connect with the boy Bergner identifies as a rapper during his visit to the juvenile detention center in Chapter 16.

(see the answer keys)

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