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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. Who are Felix and Moses?

2. What does Armpit celebrate with Ginny on their daily walk?

3. Why are there several street people waiting in the line to buy tickets?

4. How is El Genius behaving?

5. What does Ginny's mother say to Armpit's mother?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Murdock say and do when X-Ray and Armpit arrive at his restaurant?

2. What happens to Armpit on his way home, and why does the incident not bother him?

3. Who is Karia DeLeon?

4. About what does the band hint to Kaira and what is her response?

5. Why is Kaira pacing nervously backstage?

6. Who is X-Ray and what does he want of Armpit and what is Armpit's initial response to X-Ray's proposal?

7. What do Ginny and Armpit do after the concert?

8. Where does Kaira take Armpit and Ginny and what do they do?

9. Why does Armpit get angry with X-Ray, and how does X-Ray respond?

10. What does Armpit convince X-Ray to do despite what?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Escaping the past, is explored or commented on in several ways. The first is in the opening images of Chapter 6, in which the man crossing the street is portrayed as, and seen by Armpit as, avoiding him because of his criminal history. The key point here is that Armpit chooses not to react - that is, he's no longer reacting negatively to those who DO react negatively to his past. Armpit's determination to move beyond his past also manifests in his avoidance of the teenagers in the car, all of whom he knows from his previous life and all of whom are living and/or behaving in ways that he no longer wants to participate in.

1. Do you think it is unlikely that the man crossed the street to avoid Armpit? Why or why not? Use examples from your own life and Small Steps to support your reasoning.

2. Discuss ways in which a person like Armpit might set himself free from his past. Use examples from your own life and Small Steps to support your reasoning.

3. Discuss the changes that may have occurred inside Armpit that keeps him from reacting negatively to the man on the street. Use examples from your own life and Small Steps to support your reasoning.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the following:

1. Who is/are the protagonists of the story and why?

2. Who is/are the antagonists of the story and why?

3. Which 3 secondary characters have the greatest impact on the plot?

4. Are any of the characters dispensable and which ones? Why or why not?

5. Do you think this is a character-driven plot or an action-driven plot? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

The narrative manifests its thematic interest in the alluring power of money. Also here, it's important to consider how, in some fundamental ways, there is little moral, essential difference between what X-Ray does to Armpit and what El Genius is later revealed to be doing to Kaira. The scope and level of violence are quite different, but the basic principles behind their actions are the same where greed rules.

1. Do you think that a huge sum of money will corrupt everyone? Why or why not? Use examples from your own life and Small Steps to support your reasoning.

2. Explain whether what Armpit and X-Ray did is the same or not the same as what El Genius did except on a smaller scale. Use examples from your own life and Small Steps to support your reasoning.

3. Do you think X-Ray and Armpit should have been punished for scalping and using fake tickets? Was X-Ray more to blame than Armpit? Why or why not? Use examples from your own life and Small Steps to support your reasoning.

(see the answer keys)

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