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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why did Adam prefer poetry to debate?
(a) Poetry led to better colleges.
(b) Debate made you nerdy.
(c) Debate was harder.
(d) Poets got more female attention.

2. Who else does Jonathan say was committing a sexual sin at the time when he paid for a sex act at the bath house?
(a) His father.
(b) Donna Selkie.
(c) His father’s boss.
(d) His mother.

3. Where did Darren get a drink on his walk home?
(a) A hose outside a house.
(b) A McDonalds.
(c) A convenience store.
(d) A glass inside someone’s house.

4. What was unique about the box Klaus gave Adam after Adam’s concussion?
(a) It had a false bottom.
(b) It had been painted by animals.
(c) It belonged to him before the Holocaust.
(d) It was imported from Iran.

5. What environment does the narrator say Darren’s camouflage pants helped him disappear into?
(a) Topeka suburbs.
(b) American empire.
(c) Kansas society.
(d) Kansas plains.

6. How long does the narrator tell the reader it will take Darren to make the walk he thinks will be two hours?
(a) 2 hours.
(b) 6 hours.
(c) 2 days.
(d) 12 hours.

7. How does the narrator characterize Adam’s relationship with the part of his brain that was always composing rap lyrics and making arguments?
(a) It clicked on whenever it wanted.
(b) He had to meditate to activate it.
(c) It clicked on when he was stressed.
(d) He could not turn it off.

8. Who did Amber thank for dinner before Jane’s event?
(a) Sima.
(b) Adam.
(c) Jonathan.
(d) Jane.

9. Where is Jonathan when the New York School chapter begins?
(a) Taiwan.
(b) New York.
(c) In an airplane circling Topeka.
(d) In an airplane circling JFK.

10. What was Darren’s mother afraid any confrontation with Darren might lead to?
(a) Darren’s suicide.
(b) Darren’s departure.
(c) Darren beating her up.
(d) Jail and death for Darren.

11. How does Adam’s mother characterize the author of the purple cow lyric?
(a) A children’s book author.
(b) A therapist.
(c) A serious writer.
(d) A mental patient.

12. What does the narrator say the music and the skating suggested to Darren and his friends?
(a) Sports.
(b) Sex.
(c) Power.
(d) Inebriation.

13. Why does Adam say he and his friends included Darren?
(a) Because they liked him.
(b) Because they felt bad for him.
(c) Because they were told to.
(d) Because they could see that it helped him.

14. How did Adam’s friends exercise their aggression through language?
(a) Opinion pieces.
(b) Debates.
(c) Rap battles.
(d) Poetry contests.

15. What was it that changed Jonathan’s relationship with Sima?
(a) Eric’s travel.
(b) Jane’s book.
(c) His research.
(d) Adam’s concussion.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did the “Nowak Carter Gordon Davis types” treat Darren when he hung out with them?

2. What does Jane make herself think about Adam, instead of admitting his behavior?

3. Whose friends did Adam’s friend protect Darren from?

4. Who was Adam shopping with when he ran into one of Reynolds’ friends?

5. What made Jane see that her Christmas gift was not, in fact, special?

(see the answer keys)

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