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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 was Ryan's second role in a Met opera?

2. Which composer's work does Ken Noda suggest Ryan try singing in Chapter 15?

3. Where does Ryan take a trip with his father in Chapter 12?

4. Who wrote the play The Emperor Jones?

5. Where does Ryan travel for his father's funeral?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why does Ryan's brother Adrian leave home?

4. What was wrong with the area that Valerie and Ryan move to, the little green shack, in a town outside of Norfolk?

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

6. What does winning the Met's competition for young singers mean for a young singer's career?

7. Why did the famous opera singer Marian Anderson perform a concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939?

8. How does Gayletha Nichols describes Ryan's appeal to other people in Chapter 14?

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

10. What do Ryan's music teachers at the Governor's School think of his voice when they first hear him sing?

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

Although Ryan befriends his fellow singer and competitor Philippe during the Met's contest, he becomes more and more aware of the gulf in the backgrounds and confidence. Write an essay comparing and contrasting Ryan's and Philippe's experiences and how their backgrounds seem to affect each singer's attitudes towards the Met's competition.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 11, When Valerie and Ryan move to the small green shack across from the drug dealers' house, just outside of Norfolk, Virginia, Valerie navigates their dangerous new situation with enough skill so that no harm comes to either of them. Later, Ryan finds it hard to reconcile his mother's failing health with the person she was when she went up against the drug dealers. Write an essay analyzing the conflicting feelings Ryan seems to have about his relationship with his mother at the end of the book.

(see the answer keys)

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