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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 Pharoah bury outside the projects?

2. Who is the son LaJoe is closest to but who disappoints her the most?

3. How is Bird Leg killed?

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

5. Why does LaJoe hope that Dawn is successful?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are Dawn and Demetrius singled out and publicized?

2. Describe LaJoe in one or two sentences.

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

4. Explain what happens to Bird Leg.

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

6. Mention something about the character of Craig Davis.

7. What is the accusation the local welfare office caseworkers bring against LaJoe?

8. Describe Pharoah's secret place.

9. Describe the severity of Pharoah's speech impediment.

10. Explain the obsession Calvin Robinson has that Lafeyette finds interesting.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay on the disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots" of the world. Express what you see as the responsibility of those with affluence toward those who live in desperation. Give some suggestions of how the disparity might be alleviated.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Using Jimmie Lee as an example, write an essay on America's prison system. Discuss how incarceration more often than not turns out hardened criminals who earn their rank while in prison. Give your suggestions of how the prison system might be improved so that inmates are really rehabilitated.

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