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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 treats does LaJoe buy for the children?

2. Who is the only one LaJoe tells about the situation with the welfare board?

3. When does Pharoah realize something is wrong?

4. Who is the teacher Lafeyette likes a great deal?

5. What is keeping Pharoah out of school?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does LaJoe's house become overcrowded?

2. How does a policeman treat Lafeyette in the stadium parking lot?

3. How does the teacher's strike of 1988 affect Pharoah?

4. Describe how the eight-year-old Urica testifies at a murder trial.

5. What is the contrast between the murders in an affluent school and the shooting of Alonzo at Horner?

6. Describe the emotions of the project boys and the train passengers as a train passes while the boys search for snakes.

7. What is LaJoe's expectations for Pharoah?

8. What is the evidence the police collected against Jimmie Lee?

9. Explain what happens to Bird Leg.

10. Point out the contradictions in the character of Jimmie Lee.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay on the causes of gangs and gang violence. What are the circumstances that cause young people to join gangs and subject themselves to gang authority? If gang authority is accepted, what are the reasons for rebelling against the authority of schools, the police, and the adult family members? Go deeper into the causes than just rebellion. Discuss things like personal safety, a need to belong, and a need to communicate.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay on the effects of drug trafficking on society as a whole. Discuss how illegal drugs affect every strata of society. Mention the low rate of kicking a habit once it has taken hold of a person and the price in money, property, and lives illegal drugs cost the general public.

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper on pacifism. Starting with Pharoah who avoids physical conflict and often goes to his secret place where he feels safe, discuss the idea that pacifism has the advantage of not escalating conflict. You may want to mention Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in your paper. Show how pacifism is not the same thing as weakness.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 787 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample