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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. When Shawn has an "autonomic, uncontrollable systemic reflex" during a seizure, what is Shawn doing?

2. When first describing the Severely/Profoundly Handicapped Special Education Program that he attends, how does Shawn describe the class?

3. How long ago was the premiere reading of the poem that was written about Shawn?

4. Why does Shawn get confused about some aspects and experiences of life?

5. What is Shawn's bad news?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Shawn describe the tests administered by the school psychologist?

2. How does Shawn use the example of George Washington to show the reader that he knows more than he is given credit for?

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

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

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

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

7. When Shawn first heard people referred to as "vegetables," what types of images did he envision in his head?

8. How does Shawn's special gift progress and strengthen?

9. What does Cindy do when the dog is hit by a car?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Shawn states that he does not like it when people are called "special." Write about at least two characters who can be considered "special" in Stuck in Neutral.

Part 1) What does Shawn mean by "special," who is considered "special," and in what way are there characters in Stuck in Neutral considered special?

Part 2) How does Shawn's attitude and the attitude of others about being considered "special" add tension to the plot?

Essay Topic 3

Shawn's mother calls his brother and sister into the living room, to tell Paul and Cindy that their father is working on the Earl Detraux project. Describe the reaction of Cindy and Paul to their father's latest project and the talk show.

Part 1) What is Cindy's reaction to her father's latest project, both before and after the kids discuss it with their mother. Does she already know about Detraux? What does she think about what Earl does? What does she think about her father's involvement in this topic, and to what does she attribute his involvement? Consider the same questions for Paul.

Part 2) Describe the difference in how Cindy and Paul react to their father's project after they discuss the topic with their mother.

(see the answer keys)

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