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. What is the name of Jessica track rival who appears in her first running dream?

2. What kind of surgery does Jessica undergo?

3. What happens when Jessica is exercising Sherlock one morning in Part II?

4. From where is Fiona coming when she visits Jessica the next day?

5. What does Jessica find her mother doing in the kitchen later that night?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Jessica put up a front when her sister Kaylee comes to visit?

2. Why is Jessica mad at Dr. Wells when he tells her she is recovering beautifully?

3. What does Jessica realize about why she has always chosen to ignore Rosa?

4. Why is Dad skeptical about the Help Jessica Run campaign?

5. What does Jessica think about when she is in the shower?

6. Why is Jessica’s exchange with Kaylee and her friends so awkward when they come home?

7. Why does Jessica feel silly about not taking up Rosa’s offer to help her with math homework?

8. What has Jessica nicknamed her prosthetist, Hank?

9. What does Kaylee think of the way Jessica has been behaving since she got home from the hospital?

10. What does Jessica’s mom tell her about the financial situation with the insurance companies?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you examine Jessica’s decision to run with Rosa in the River Run. Describe what you believe are Jessica’s motivations for making this decision, and whether or not you think she achieved her prescribed goals.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay exploring how Jessica’s perception of herself changes throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 3

The Running Dream is categorized as a piece of coming-of-age young adult fiction. Analyze how the author incorporates and develops coming-of-age narrative conventions throughout the novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 685 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample