View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Mr. Brown die?

2. Which teacher at Governor's School takes Ryan under his wing and helps turn him into a very good singer?

3. What was Ryan's second role in a Met opera?

4. Why does Ryan stop seeing the red-headed girl he meets in the beginning of Chapter 11?

5. Who is the singer Ryan is afraid of being compared to in Chapter 13?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the personal connection that helps Ryan get into the Virginia Governor's School for the Arts?

2. In Chapter 9, what effect does the black opera singer Eric Owens say race has on the career of opera singers?

3. Why does Ryan like spending time at his friend Jared Poulter's house in high school?

4. What kind of influence does Mr. Brown have on Ryan during his time teaching him?

5. In Chapter 13, what does Ken Noda tell Ryan about how he will be judged as a singer because of his race?

6. When does Ryan first settle on the idea that he would like to sing at the Met someday?

7. What does Noda say is the greatest part of Ryan's appeal as a singer?

8. Why did the child piano prodigy Ken Noda abruptly stop performing piano concerts?

9. What happens to Ryan on the night of November 4, 2008, when Barack Obama is elected president?

10. Why is Ryan's family very surprised when they hear he is seriously interested in opera?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mrs. Bette Hughes, a teacher of Ryan's from elementary school, has a very significant impact on Ryan's life. Write an essay discussing Mrs. Hughes's significance in Ryan's life.

Essay Topic 2

The juvenile detention facility of last resort that Ryan is sent to as a 12 year-old in Virginia was named, at the time, the DeJarnette Center. Write an essay explaining who the center's namesake, Dr. Joseph DeJarnette, was, and why Bergner spends a significant amount of time explaining DeJarnette's background and legacy.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 911 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample