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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. Why is Dad enraged and fearful after the experience with the crow?

2. In Chapter 7, why is it necessary to file an incident report?

3. Where is Shawn the week before his father comes by the house?

4. In Shawn's opinion, the fame of the poem turned his father into a professional what?

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. When talking to her mother, how does Cindy explain her experience with the dog's death?

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

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

5. Describe what the special education class at Shoreline High School is like according to Shawn, and how the students behave.

6. How does Shawn describe the first signs that he will have a seizure?

7. What kinds of things is Shawn able to remember using his gift?

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

9. What movements does Shawn's body make and what controls them?

10. How does Shawn describe his experience with grand mal seizures as a child?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of the novel, Sydney McDaniel comes into the room, sits down, and takes a quilted pillow from Shawn's oversized crib. Sydney cries as he speaks to Shawn and then confesses that he does not know what to do. Shawn is suddenly able to focus on his father and he thinks he finally connects with his father. Then Shawn has a seizure and floats away, realizing that he is flying free either way. So the novel ends without answering the question of whether Sydney kills Shawn. Is logical that Shawn has a seizure when he does in this chapter? Why or why not? What is the function of the seizure in this chapter? Did the author chose a cowardly or lazy way to end this novel? If not, why is it appropriate that the novel ends without answering the questions of whether Sydney kills Shawn?

Essay Topic 2

Shawn remembers when he was four and his father attempts to feed him. Shawn's coughs food onto his father's face. He complains to his wife about how hard it is to deal with Shawn's disabilities. How does this incident typify Sydney McDaniel's reaction to Shawn's disabilities? Identify how often in his life has Shawn's father has fed him. According to Sydney, his anger during this incident is directed at what or whom? Why? When Sydney says he "can't do this any more." To what is he referring? Is Sydney's reaction to Shawn's disabilities valid or logical? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

When Shawn's father shows up at his class with a cameraman to tape footage for a PBS special on "Appropriate Allocation Decisions in an Era of Diminishing Funding," what are the similarities and differences between Shawn's father's beliefs and actions with those of Shawn's teacher and teacher's aides and how does Shawn feel about these people?

Part 1) What is the approach of Shawn's teacher and aids to the students in the class? What does Shawn think about these characters and why? How do these characters react to Shawn's father and his documentary? Why?

Part 2) While Sydney McDaniel is videotaping his special for PBS, what does he say about educating people who "cannot learn?" What does Shawn think about the points that his father makes? What in particular that his father says catches Shawn's interest in a big way?

Part 3) What are there similarities or differences between Shawn's father and the classroom teacher and aides regarding the way they think about and treat the children? What are they and why do they exist?

(see the answer keys)

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