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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 is at Armpit's house?

2. What does Kaira have to say when she calls Armpit that night?

3. Why does Kaira throw coffee in Armpit's face?

4. How much does Armpit say he paid for the tickets?

5. What surprises Armpit when he observes a suspect being questioned?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens when El Genius encounters Armpit in the hotel?

2. What happens when Kaira is getting ready for her show and El Genius comes in her room?

3. Describe Armpit's conversation with Detective Newburg.

4. What happens in the chaotic aftermath of the attack?

5. Who visits Armpit while he is doing some plumbing and what do they want?

6. How does the attack on Kaira end?

7. Why is Armpit uneasy in a coffee shop and what does Kaira say about Ginny and Kaira's own work with a dying girl?

8. What does Armpit decide about the trip and how does he feel about his decision?

9. What does X-Ray tell Armpit and how does Armpit respond?

10. What does Armpit notice as he is telling Ginny about his time with Kaira?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in Small Steps. Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with growth? Why? What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of trust in Small Steps. Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to be trustworthy? Why? Which are not?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of change in Small Steps. Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with change? Why? What are some symbols of change? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid? Which characters change the most? How?

Essay Topic 2

Over the course of Small Steps, Armpit grows as a person in both complexity and understanding. Small Steps might be considered a slice of Armpit's larger story of his "coming of age." It might be said that Small Steps is a "bildungsroman" of Theodore Johnson. Discuss the following:

1. Define Bildungsroman, or "Coming of Age," and give several examples from literature you have read.

2. Trace and analyze the character of Armpit as he changes from a more immature, gullible boy to a wiser, young man. What are the significant events that change Armpit?

3. After thoroughly analyzing Armpit's growth throughout Small Steps, do you think Small Steps could be considered Armpit's Coming of Age story? Why or why not?

4. Are there any other characters in Small Steps who go through a Coming of Age experience? Who? Why do you think so?

Essay Topic 3

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.

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