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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of building is the only one the Herdmans had managed to burn all the way to the ground?
(a) A playhouse.
(b) A garage.
(c) A toolhouse.
(d) A carport.

2. At what time of year is the usual pageant coordinator injured, leading to Mother's assumption of the role instead?
(a) Three weeks before Christmas.
(b) Two weeks before Thanksgiving.
(c) A month before Thanksgiving.
(d) A month after Thanksgiving.

3. What is NOT a quality of the Herdman's cat?
(a) It has one short leg.
(b) It has one eye.
(c) It it missing one leg.
(d) It has a broken tail.

4. What preparations does Claude make when he brings the cat to Show-and-Tell?
(a) He gives the cat a bath.
(b) He lets the cat go hungry for two days.
(c) He shaves the cat.
(d) He dyes the cat a vibrant shade of purple.

5. In what type of container does Claude bring the Herdmans' cat to school?
(a) A suitcase.
(b) A gunny sack.
(c) A cardboard box.
(d) A metal barrel.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is NOT a reason the narrator names for her friend Alice always playing the role of Mary in the pageant?

2. What food does the narrator say the Sunday School kids get on Easter Sunday?

3. Who is the oldest child in the Herdman family?

4. What part of their home do the Herdman siblings play with in order to try to hurt one another?

5. What proclamation does Mother make about Charlie's comment about his favorite part of Sunday School?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what purpose does the author go out of her way to portray the Herdman children as unteachable?

2. What is the symbolism of the Beware of Cat sign in the Herdmans' front yard?

3. In what ways does the author employ hyperbole within Chapter One?

4. What is the one virtue displayed by the Herdman children within the burned toolhouse incident?

5. The narrator begins the narrative of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by describing what event?

6. How does the author go about portraying the Herdmans as unteachable?

7. For what purpose does the author use the allusion to "a day of rest" (21) in Chapter Two?

8. Discuss the author's use of vivid imagery within the scene of the Herdmans' first time at Sunday school.

9. What do poison ivy and rocks symbolize within the narrative?

10. What simile does the narrator use to describe the way in which the Herdman children move through Woodrow Wilson School?

(see the answer keys)

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