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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 Mr. Howard think will be difficult for Toby to adjust to at Hill?

2. What prep school is Toby accepted to?

3. What does Norma ask Rosemary?

4. How does Toby feel about the information he writes on his letters of recommendation and transcripts?

5. What happens when Toby sees the drugstore clerk in line at the Order of the Arrow Scout meeting?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Toby run away slowly from the drugstore worker? What does this tell the reader about Toby? Why does no one stop Toby?

2. Describe a smoker.

3. Why does Arthur tell lies? What lies does he tell? Why doesn't Toby say anything when he knows the things Arthur says aren't true?

4. What do Toby's friends want to do for him? How successful are they?

5. How does Toby find a letter from Rosemary's brother, Stephen? What does Toby do about it?

6. What is different now between Toby and Geoffrey?

7. What is notable about the clothes the Howards purchase for Toby? What is ironic about the situation?

8. Describe Norma's boyfriend Kenneth.

9. How does Kenneth act when he comes for Christmas dinner?

10. Why does Toby take Dwight's guns?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Toby feel about girls at the beginning of the book? Give three specific examples of how this changes. How does this attitude differ from the attitudes of Toby's friends?

Essay Topic 2

Dwight is a cruel, inhuman man who makes life miserable for everyone around him.

Part 1) Using specific examples, provide evidence of Dwight's mental instability.

Part 2) Explain the impact that Dwight's actions and behavior have on his children and Rosemary.

Part 3) Dwight has an especially negative impact on Toby's life. Provide evidence of his poor treatment of Toby, and explore the ways in which this treatment shapes Toby's life.

Essay Topic 3

When Toby's friends get him drunk, he falls from a tree branch and down a concrete hill. As he falls, he keeps his hands in his pockets. What does this demonstrate about Toby? How does this incident affect our understanding of Toby's character? In your opinion, what would have to be different about Toby to motivate him to take his hands out of his pockets?

(see the answer keys)

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