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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. Who gathers with Shawn to watch his father's episode of The Alice Ponds Show?

2. In Chapter 12, what is Paul's punishment?

3. What happens during the commercial after the interview of Earl Detraux on the Alice Ponds Show?

4. What does Shawn call the robin that he sees on the window sill on Christmas morning when he is six years old?

5. Which of the following is not a happy memory for Shawn?

Short Essay Questions

1. Paul and Cindy discuss their father's appearance on The Alice Ponds Show. What do they think about what their father says on the show?

2. Which characters are going to Spokane in chapter 13 and why is it significant that they are going?

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

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

5. On The Alice Ponds Show, what is Alice Ponds' goal while interviewing Sydney McDaniel.

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

7. What is Sydney McDaniel's definition of parental love, as offered on The Alice Ponds Show?

8. While Shawn has a doozy of a seizure during the end of the Alice Ponds show, what does he experience?

9. What is in Shawn's father's bedroom that is reminiscent of the virtual ride through the cosmos at the science center and why is this significant?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Watching The Alice Ponds Show, it is apparent that both Sydney McDaniel and Earl Detraux say that killing their children is about doing the right thing for the kids. Write an essay about the theme of parental responsibility and mercy killing a disabled child as it relates to Sydney and/or Earl. Pick one of these topics to write about.

Topic 1) What is Sydney's attitude toward the mercy killing a disabled child? It is analogous to what type of disciplinary action a parent might take? How does he relate it to parental responsibility? What is his attitude toward Earl's mercy killing of his child, Collin? Who or what does Sydney say killed Collin?

Topic 2) What is Earl's attitude toward the mercy killing of his own son? Why does he say he smothers him? How does he relate it to parental responsibility? What does he say when asked how he would feel if a cure for Collin is invented? How does this relate to parental responsibility? Is Earl's behavior an example of a mature level of parental responsibility? Why or why not?

Topic 3) What are the similarities and differences between Sydney's and Earl's point of view on parental responsibility and mercy killing a disabled child. Do you think that Earl's actions influence Sydney, validate Sydney's already-existing point of view, or something else? Is Sydney's thought process about mercy killing a disabled child indicative of a mature level of parental responsibility? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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