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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 the narrator say Jimmy's father never asked him?

2. Why is Jimmy's class dismissed early?

3. Where is Jimmy sent when he arrives at school?

4. What does Jimmy expect from Cookie's news?

5. Where does Crab appear from?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Crab behave when Cookie knocks on the door?

2. What does Mama Jean tell Jimmy when he is leaving?

3. What does Crab tell Jimmy is the truth about his arrest?

4. Where does Jimmy live?

5. What is Mama Jean's response to Crab's arrival?

6. How did Crab come to see Jimmy?

7. Where are Jimmy's parents?

8. What does Crab's story have to do with the trip he is taking with Jimmy?

9. Why was Crab in prison?

10. How does Crab explain having been arrested in spite of being innocent?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How would you characterize the author's writing style? How is language itself a character in the story? Is it supposed to be transparent, or does the author draw attention to his use of language?

Essay Topic 2

Where is the climax of this book? Are there different climaxes? What questions does each climax resolve? What questions does each climax leave unanswered?

Essay Topic 3

How surprising is "Somewhere in the Darkness"? What did you expect from the opening chapters, and where did the book diverge from your expectation? How did the book set you up to believe one thing, and then give you another? Where was the suspense generated?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 489 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample