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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 changes Mama Jean's mood?

2. What do Jimmy and Crab eat when they stop?

3. Where is Crab when Jimmy wakes up?

4. Where is Jimmy sent when he arrives there?

5. What does Jimmy say when he sees Crab acting odd?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Jimmy's departure with Crab.

2. What is Jimmy's environment like?

3. Where are Jimmy's parents?

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

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

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

7. What makes Crab nervous when they stop?

8. Why was Crab in prison?

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

10. What does Jimmy do after Crab finds him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an evaluative review of "Somewhere in the Darkness". What is this book's place in culture? What are its uses? Who is its audience? What are its limitations?

Essay Topic 2

Crab's illness makes it impossible for him to play more than an episodic role in Jimmy's life. How else does his illness figure in the book? Is it a symbol or a metaphor? What does it symbolize? What clues does the author give us, that Crab's illness might mean more than just his individual sickness?

Essay Topic 3

At the end of the novel, Jimmy asks Crab what the goal of going to California would be. How important are goals in "Somewhere in the Darkness"? Does a plan need to have a goal for it to be important? Which characters have different beliefs about this question?

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This section contains 567 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample