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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. Bird Leg's cousin, Rickey, is full of rage. Why?

2. What is keeping Pharoah out of school?

3. Who wants to know if Pharoah's cousin Dede will go out with him?

4. Why does Pharoah love school?

5. When Rickey and Lafeyette shoplift, what are they unaware of?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does LaJoe's house become overcrowded?

2. Describe Lafeyette's academic qualities.

3. When Lafeyette is caught shoplifting, how does LaJoe react?

4. What are some of the serious problems with the construction of the Henry Horner homes?

5. Mention something about the character of Craig Davis.

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

7. How does Lafeyette's attitude change toward Rickey?

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

9. Explain why LaJoe believes Terrence is innocent when she visits him in Cook County Jail.

10. Describe Pharoah's problem that gets him eliminated from the spelling bee.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay on the exploitation of children. Begin with the need for Lafeyette to grow old before his time. Expand that theme to child soldiers and sweatshop laborers. Discuss how and why this exploitation happens to children all over the world.

Essay Topic 2

When faced with the prospect of going to prison for a crime he did not commit, Terrence participated in an armed robbery with the attitude that he might as well commit the crime he had been accused of. Write a paper on the possibility of false imprisonment in the judicial system. Explain why it is possible and what makes it seem to happen so often.

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 848 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample