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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. Where do the larger boys play when they visit the railway tracks?

2. What happens to Pharoah on his last word?

3. What is the last word Pharoah is given to spell?

4. What happens to LaJoe at the welfare meeting?

5. What is Pharoah entered in at school?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the character of Pharoah developed in the story by how he cannot lie to LaJoe?

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

3. Mention something about the character of Craig Davis.

4. Describe Lafeyette's academic qualities.

5. Explain why Lafeyette becomes introverted after the death of Bird Leg.

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

7. How do the boys sometimes make money?

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

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

10. Explain the friendship between Pharoah and Rickey.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay entitled "Kick the Dog." Begin with a story about a man who was harassed at work all day. When he comes home, the dog greets him with its tail wagging. The man, unable to fight back at work, takes his anger out by kicking the innocent dog. Using LaJoe and Lafeyette as examples, write your paper about how people often take out their frustrations of innocent and often helpless people.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay entitled "Society's Forgotten People." In addition to the example of the Rivers family, mention other groups of people our society fails. In the essay, discuss how people are measured by the amount of material things they possess and the money they have in the bank and in investments.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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