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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. Which classroom staff members at the school does Shawn like the best?

2. What does Mom say to Cindy when she gets back in the van?

3. What are Shawn's main teachers in life?

4. Shawn especially enjoys interacting with Becky when she places him where every day?

5. Where does the crow land?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the encounter with the crow reveal to Shawn's father, and what thought occurs to him?

2. Why does Shawn think that his father is smart?

3. What "techniques of making contact" does Shawn mention have not been tried on him?

4. Why does Shawn say that he has looked into death's eyes?

5. Why does Shawn think that it is cool to live in Seattle?

6. How does Shawn describe his father?

7. How does seeing the death of the dog make Shawn feel?

8. How much control does Shawn have over his seizures?

9. How does Sydney McDaniel support his argument that schools waste money educating the ineducable?

10. What is Shawn able to do when his spirit leaves his body during a seizure?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Shawn, his sister, and his mother witness the death of a dog that is hit by a car. How does this experience affect Shawn and his perception of death?

Part 1) What are the circumstances surrounding the death of the dog? How is the dog injured? What do Shawn's sister and mother do when the dog is injured? What do they do when the dog dies? What does Shawn see and experience when the dog dies and what is his attitude toward death just after the dog dies?

Part 2) Why is it important in the story that Shawn remembers witnessing the death of the dog? How does the topic of death relate to Shawn's own life? Does experiencing the death of the dog affect Shawn? How does Shawn feel about death as he remembers the death of the dog, and what does Shawn think death means at this point in his life?

Essay Topic 2

Cindy often has sleepovers and Shawn's reaction to his sister's friends shows that in some ways he is a typical teenage boy.

Part 1) How does his sister and her friends regard Shawn? How do they think of him? How do they react to him and behave around him?

Part 2) How does Shawn normally react to his sister's friends? How does he react to Ally? Does he judge her behavior by the same standards as he uses for other girls? Why or why not?

Part 3) Why does Shawn think that Ally is "so perfect!"? Is he reacting like a normal teenage boy, or is something else at play here? How does his reaction to Ally help or hinder the plot?

Essay Topic 3

Shawn thinks about how he and his father both have double jointed thumbs and how his father will sometimes perform the "thumb ritual."

Part 1) Provide at least three reasons how the author uses the double-jointed thumbs as an element in the novel. For each, explain how it adds to the novel. Does the juxtaposition of Shawn's thumbs and his father's thumbs create a comparison, contrast, irony, foreshadow, or something else?

Part 2) How does Shawn say he feels during this ritual. Explain what Shawn's feelings about his father during this ritual contributes to the novel.

(see the answer keys)

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