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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 impression do we get of Jimmy's personality?

2. Where is Jimmy sent when he arrives there?

3. What is Jimmy's domestic situation?

4. What is Jimmy's status in Crab's eyes?

5. Why does Crab have to leave as soon as possible?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jimmy do after Crab finds him?

2. Where does Jimmy live?

3. Describe Jimmy's departure with Crab.

4. What is Jimmy's environment like?

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

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

7. How did Crab come to see Jimmy?

8. Where does Jimmy find himself when he wakes up in the car?

9. Where are Jimmy's parents?

10. What makes Crab nervous when they stop?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

In what ways is Mama Jean a better parent than Crab? In what ways is she not? What does Crab teach Jimmy that Mama Jean could not, and vice versa?

Essay Topic 3

Is "Somewhere in the Darkness" a quest novel, or just a novel about characters who wander around? In what way is it either one, or both? Does the fact that Crab does not accomplish his mission affect the nature of the book?

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