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

2. What is JB doing while Josh tries to talk to him in "Conversation"?

3. What team does Josh describe having just beaten in "Mom Calls Me into the Kitchen"?

4. Where does Vondie's mother work, according to the narrator in "Ironic"?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the five resons that Josh describes for having dreadlocks in "Five Reasons I Have Locks"?

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

3. What is the meaning of the title to the poem "Second-Person"?

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

5. How does Josh define "irony" in "Ironic"? How does he apply irony to his life?

6. What are some examples of stylistic choices made by the author in the poem "Dribbling"?

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

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

9. How do JB and Josh respond to their father's collapse in "I"m on Free Throw Number Twenty-Seven"?

10. How did Josh Bell get his nickname? What is the significance of Josh's nickname?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the genre of The Crossover. Why do you think the author has chosen to relate this story in the form of a verse novel? How would the novel differ if related in prose? What are the benefits of this style?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the characters of Josh and JB in The Crossover. How are these twin brothers similar? How are they different? What causes the conflicts between these characters?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the character of Vondie Little in The Crossover. How do Josh and JB know Vondie? How do their relationships evolve in the course of the narrative? Is Vondie a likable character? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 796 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample