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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. How old does the narrator say he and his brother are almost in "JB and I"?

2. How does the narrator's father respond when he is asked if he misses playing basketball in "Conversation"?

3. What team does Josh describe destroying last week in "Josh's Play-by-Play"?

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

5. What does the coach tell the team they need to work on in "At Practice"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Why does Josh lie to his father in "35-18"?

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

6. Why does Crystal Bell make her husband sit in the top row of the bleachers during basketball games?

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

8. How does Josh's father respond to Josh's concerns about JB in the second poem titled "Conversation" in "Second Quarter"?

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

10. What metaphors are seen in "Basketball Rule #1"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and analyze the character of Josh Bell in The Crossover. How old is Josh? What are his likes and dislikes? What relationships does Josh form and/or share with the other characters in the story?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the style of the poems in The Crossover. Does the author employ rhyme and meter throughout the poems? What are examples of similes, metaphors, and other literary devices employed in the poems?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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