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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 does Gunnar do before they move?

2. What type of families live in Gunnar's new neighborhood?

3. How tall has Gunnar become by his first year in high school?

4. Why do two police officers come to Gunnar's house a couple of weeks after they move there?

5. What does the receptionist tell Gunnar his aptitude suggests?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Gunnar and his sisters get along with the other children in the neighborhood?

2. How does Nick help Gunnar fit into the neighborhood better and how does Gunnar get a basketball?

3. What happens when Gunnar meets Nick and some of Nick's friends for lunch?

4. What does Gunnar's elementary school emphasize?

5. With whom has Gunnar become friends in the three years in his new neighborhood and why can he walk unafraid there? What is one of the disadvantages of one of his friends?

6. How does Gunnar feel about organized basketball and why? What changes for Nick and Gunnar because of basketball and how do they deal with the change?

7. What is one of Gunnar's favorite past times from a young age and what is he known for among his friends?

8. Why is the receptionist at the school surprised to see Gunnar and what does she tell him about his aptitude testing?

9. What does Gunnar recall about living in Santa Monica in Chapter 2 and why does he join the Cub Scouts? How does the Scouts work out for him?

10. Why is Psycho Loco upset when he comes to Gunnar's house in Chapter Five?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The counselor was shocked that a black student could get the high SAT scores that Gunnar made.

1. Refute or defend the following statement: Stereotypes about people are generally true. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. How do you think stereotyping or generalization in schools can affect students? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. The only statement that can be true about a population is if that population consist of only one person. Discuss this statement in view of the counselor stereotyping black students.

Essay Topic 2

There are a number of interesting questions raised by The White Boy Shuffle. Questions that Beatty most likely want readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term "author agenda" mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the Beatty's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Beatty's probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

4. Research the life of Paul Beatty and see if/where his life may have influenced his writing.

Essay Topic 3

Setting as far as place and time play an important role in The White Boy Shuffle. Discuss the following:

1. Compare/contrast several aspects of the setting of that time, 1992 from how it would be today. Consider things such as cultural norms/expectations, technology, religion and medicine.

2. Do you think The White Boy Shuffle would be different if it were set in Europe? Consider the cultural differences as you discuss the way the story would change is set in the Europe.

3. Discuss some of the differences between the Los Angeles and Boston, as far as the relationship between blacks and whites. What are some similarities?

(see the answer keys)

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