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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 LaJoe buy for them to eat downtown?

2. What are the results of Vance Lane's efforts at CHA?

3. What does the teacher, Mr. Rogers, promise the class if either Clarise or Pharoah wins the spelling bee?

4. When LaJoe tells Weasel, her oldest son, what the man did to her, what does Weasel do?

5. What causes Gwen Anderson to vomit in the basement?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Pharoah react to his visit to the courtroom?

2. What is it about public defender Anne Rhodes that Lafeyette does not understand?

3. What happens to Lafeyette and Pharoah in regard to their education?

4. Describe the shooting of Craig Davis.

5. Describe the conflict between Lafeyette and Paul over the puppy Rickey gave him.

6. Why does Terrence agree to participate in an armed robbery?

7. What does Gwen Anderson tell the CHA about the basement?

8. What hope is inspired in Pharoah as a result of his inclusion in the Upward Bound program at the University of Illinois?

9. Who is Vince Lane and what does he hope to accomplish?

10. Describe Lafeyette's brush with the law that gets him arrested.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about political and criminal abuse of the poor, the uneducated, and the elderly. Explain why these people are so vulnerable to scams and oppression. Compare the scam artists who bilked LaJoe out of her deposit money for a new house to the corrupt politicians who allowed the projects to fall victim of disrepair and lawlessness. Include examples of whole political systems which allow starvation and genocide to go on among their people.

Essay Topic 2

Beginning with the positive influence Diana Barone had on Pharoah, write an essay about a particular teacher who inspired and influenced you. Be specific about things that teacher said and did which inspired you to be better at something. Maybe it was not scholastic excellence but some other aspect of your life the teacher impacted.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,157 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample