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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. What stylistic literary device is evident in the following phrase from "Showoff"? "... a sick slick sliding sweet seven-foot shot."

2. Where does Josh say his father played basketball in "Phone Conversation (I Sub for JB)"?

3. Where does Josh say his mother is in "Too Good"?

4. What word does the narrator tell his father that no one uses anymore in "How I Got My Nickname"?

5. What does Josh's father suggest they go get at the end of the poem "Conversation"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Josh define "Tipping Point" in the poem with the same name?

2. How does Josh describe JB's behavior in the first poem titled "Conversation" from "Second Quarter"?

3. What literary device stand out the most in the poem "Showoff"? What are examples?

4. How are the careers of Josh's parents described in the narrative?

5. What differences does Josh describe between him and his brother in "JB and I"?

6. What is the rule stated in "Basketball Rule #5"? What is its significance?

7. Why does Josh pretend to be JB on the phone when Alexis first calls? What do Josh and Alexis talk about?

8. What conflict is described in "On the Way to the Game"?

9. What does Crystal explain to Josh in "Mom Calls Me into the Kitchen"?

10. What does Coach Hawkins have his team do in "At Practice"? Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the motif of basketball in The Crossover. What correlations does the author make between basketball and life? How is this motif related to the themes of the verse novel?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and discuss the character of Crystal Bell in The Crossover. What is Crystal's profession? How would you describe her relationships with the main characters in the story? What transformation does Crystal undergo in The Crossover?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the symbolism of Josh's dreadlocks in The Crossover. What reasons does Josh give for having dreadlocks? What does it signify when his dreadlocks are cut off? Who cuts them off?

(see the answer keys)

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