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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. How does Rat create an emergency exit inside the boys' tiny room above the laundry?

2. How wide is Behala?

3. Instead of the cells she expects at Colva Prison, what does Olivia say is in the prison instead?

4. What item does Gardo tell Olivia will surely grant her entry into the prison?

5. In what office does Olivia's father work?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what ways does Raphael seem to have lingering negative effects from his experiences within the police station?

2. When the police return to the dumpsite in search of the boys, what plan does Rat suggest?

3. What method do Raphael, Gardo, and Rat use in order to evade the police after they leap from rooftop to rooftop in an attempt to escape?

4. Of what crimes was Gabriel Olondriz falsely accused after his attempt to expose Senator Zapanta's corruption?

5. Why are there dozens of families living in shacks nearby Colva Prison?

6. What are all of the ways in which Senator Zapanta's property compound is protected?

7. What are the main duties required within Olivia's position as house mother for the mission school?

8. When the boys hide inside a small room within a tenement building, who first detects approaching danger and leads the other two boys out through the hole in the roof to safety?

9. How does Rat describe his relationship with Father Juilliard and how does this relationship affect Rat's decision to steal money from the school's safe?

10. How does Gabriel Olondriz say he has ended up in Colva Prison?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The theme of power is one that comes up often within the novel's narrative, particularly in relation to dumpsite boys' feelings of powerlessness and their realizations about the enormous power that the government wields recklessly. Choose three instances when power is wielded by a particular character or organization within the novel. Discuss how these instances help to shape the author's message regarding power.

Essay Topic 2

At many points within the narrative, the boys are close to giving up on solving the mystery due to the inherent dangers associated with the fact-finding, but they never do give up. Choose three of these moments, discuss the boys' motivations to keep going, and analyze these instances within the context of the author's message about hope, optimism, and justice.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss how the use of multiple points of view to tell the story of Trash helps the author get across his intended themes and messages. Include concrete details and examples from the text in order to support your points.

(see the answer keys)

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