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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 the narrator invite the girl of his dreams on a date?

2. What is the biggest event of the narrator's junior year in high school?

3. The night of his first date with the neighbor girl, how long does it take the narrator to bathe and groom?

4. When his friends ask the narrator who he plans to invite to the big dance, what does he say?

5. As an adult, the narrator lives in what type of dwelling?

Short Essay Questions

1. What conflict exists for the narrator regarding the night of the party that he's invited to by Josephine?

2. What happens to the adult narrator's fire chief hat?

3. When the narrator asks Daphne out on a date, and she agrees, what daydreams go through his mind?

4. What impression does the narrator make on Mr. Bigelow, Daphne's dad?

5. How does the narrator feel after looking through his box of childhood treasures?

6. What does the narrator compare the prom to?

7. How does the narrator's prom night end?

8. Describe how the narrator prepares for his date with Daphne.

9. How does the narrator prepare for his date with Josephine?

10. How does the narrator's family react when he says that he's asked Daphne Bigelow out on a date?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The book's time line covers the narrator's childhood and teen years. How does the narrator change, develop, and grow from the beginning to the end of the book? In what ways do the stories evolve? In what instances does the author seem to act about the same as a teenager as he did as a child?

Essay Topic 2

The Old Man is a study in contrasts. One minute he's cursing and complaining, the next he's laughing and joking about a challenge he just went through. Using examples from the book, create a description of the Old Man that shows him as a man of contrasts and mixed messages. How do his sons handle a father as unpredictable as theirs?

Essay Topic 3

Although events rarely go according to plan and expectations, somehow the narrator gets through them and even manages to be content with the outcome. Explain what factors help the narrator maintain a positive attitude even when his hopes and dreams fail to materialize.

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