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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. According to the discussion between Shawn's parents the last time that Shawn's father feeds him, who does not believe in God?

2. How does Shawn's father talk to him?

3. Why does Shawn say that he doesn't really have a body?

4. How many times has Shawn's father said his name aloud in his presence?

5. In Chapter 8, Shawn says that his father's books, poems, newspaper and magazine articles and his job teaching literature at college always made him think of his father as what?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. How does Shawn learn to read?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Shawn remembers attending the reading of the Pulitzer Prize winning poem that Sydney McDaniel writes. Why does Shawn become uncharacteristically annoyed on the night of the poem reading? Are there any aspects of the reading that do not annoy him? Name at least three reasons for each and explain Shawn's feelings in each case.

Essay Topic 3

What are Shawn's main methods for learning about life? Does he learn from people, through other means, or both? How does Shawn learn in these ways? What challenges does learning in these ways present? How does Shawn's intelligence and genius help or hinder him in the process when he encounters a learning challenge?

(see the answer keys)

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