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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 interview of Earl Detraux on the Alice Ponds Show, what is his quality of life like currently?

2. Shawn's father's house can be described as what?

3. Paul gets on the bus with his teammates to go to what destination?

4. After Shawn's father sits on his oversized crib, what does he do to Shawn?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. After he sees his father's appearance on The Alice Ponds Show, why does Shawn say that he is floating in an ocean of negativity?

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

3. Shawn looks at his father, who is sitting on the bed apparently considering whether or not he should end Shawn's life. What does he notice about his father's appearance?

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

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

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

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

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

9. What is apparent about the relationship between Paul and his father after Paul finds out that his father wants him to go on the Alice Ponds show?

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

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's father is consumed by Shawn's vulnerability in the scene in which a crow lands on the power lines above Shawn's head.

Part 1) What does Sydney do or say regarding the crow? Are his words and actions in proportion to the threat of the crow? Why or why not? What does this reaction say about Sydney's opinion of Shawn's vulnerability

Part 2) Is Sydney's opinion of Shawn's vulnerability reasonable, excessive, or something else? How does Sydney's attitude toward Shawn's vulnerability add to our understanding of Sydney's character?

Essay Topic 3

One of Sydney McDaniel's main reasons for saying he wants to end Shawn's life is because he says he wants to end Shawn's "pain." What does Sydney think that the pain is like for Shawn when he has his daily seizures? Where does he get his information? Is he correct? Name three ways that Sydney's reaction to his son's seizures affects Shawn and the entire family?

(see the answer keys)

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