View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 13, Shawn cannot stop thinking about his father. How long has it been since The Alice Ponds Show?

2. In Chapter 12, while Shawn is outside on the front porch, what is the origin of the strong smell of fumes?

3. What happens to Shawn and his father after his father finishes speaking in Chapter 16?

4. What does Cindy call Earl Detraux?

5. What does Shawn's mother call Cindy and Paul downstairs to discuss the morning after Ally spends the night?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Vonda excited to meet Shawn's father?

2. What does Shawn think about after viewing the clip of an interview between Sydney McDaniel and Earl Detraux on the Alice Ponds Show?

3. How does Shawn describe the African animal mobile that hangs over his bed, and why does he describe it in this manner?

4. Why does Paul grab Cindy by the shirt front and pull back his fist to hit her?

5. How does Shawn react to meeting his sister's friend Ally, and why?

6. In Chapter 14, why does Shawn fall asleep exhausted at ten o'clock that night?

7. In Chapter 14, Shawn dreams that his father sees angels. What is the significance of the angels?

8. What is the Annie-Sullivan-meeting-Helen Keller-in-The Miracle-Worker routine and what does Shawn think about it?

9. What does Shawn try to tell his father over and over again in Chapter 16, and why?

10. Why is it significant that Shawn's father volunteers to take care of Shawn by himself overnight and sends Vonda home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sydney McDaniel writes a poem that wins him a Pulitzer prize. This poem symbolizes everything Mr. McDaniel sees and feels about Shawn's disability. Shawn, however, has mixed feelings about the poem. He believes that the fame that the poem brings his father has made him into a professional victim. He also sees the valid benefits of the fame. Name three ways in which the poem turns Sydney into a professional victim and several ways that the fame produces valid benefits for the family.

Essay Topic 2

Point of view in a novel allows the reader to experience the story. In Stuck in Neutral, the story is told from the point of view of how many characters?

Part 1) Why is the story told this way? What are the limitations and advantages of having this many point of view characters? Why is it necessary to tell this particular story in this way?

Part 2) How would the story have been different if the story was told from the point of view of multiple characters, or from the point of view of another character? Make a list of at least three ways the story would have been different and present it to the class.

Essay Topic 3

Shawn mentions that he actually enjoys the weird irony that he is the smartest person in his class and yet he is considered the most ineducable. Irony seems to be a theme in Stuck in Neutral.

Part 1) Identify five instances of irony within Stuck in Neutral. Explain why these instances can be considered ironic. Identify each instance by the type of irony: verbal, situational, or dramatic?

Part 2) What is the function of irony within the novel? What is the author trying to get across to the reader by the use of irony? Is there a pattern? To support the argument, use examples from the novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,453 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample