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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Old Man tell the brothers to cure their "skeet bites" (35)?
(a) Cut a cross on the bites with their fingernails.
(b) Put a special lotion he has on the bites.
(c) Leave the bites alone to heal.
(d) Spit on their bites.

2. Where do the brothers hide after their bath in Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME?
(a) The attic.
(b) The bathtub.
(c) The crawlspace.
(d) Ma and Paps' bedroom.

3. What does Ma wear for the family's first drive in the truck?
(a) Her work boots and a house dress.
(b) Ma refuses to go on the first drive.
(c) A red dress and gold hoop earrings.
(d) A short black skirt with high heels.

4. Why do the brothers run their fingers around the empty bowls in Chapter 9, TALK TO ME?
(a) Because they are angry all the food is gone.
(b) Because they are curious what the food tastes like.
(c) Because there is excess frosting left in the bowls.
(d) Because they are so hungry and want all the food there is left.

5. What does Lina bring with her to the narrator's house?
(a) A message from the boss.
(b) A pink slip from work.
(c) Groceries.
(d) Money.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Lina, Ma's co-worker, come to the narrator's house?

2. What is the weather like when the narrator's family goes to the lake?

3. Where has Ma seen the "most water she ever saw in one place" (19)?

4. In the crawlspace, the narrator asks Joel, "It's just going to be like this forever?" (43). What is the narrator referring to?

5. Why are grocery stores and banks closed when Ma takes her sons to run errands?

Short Essay Questions

1. What personality traits and behaviors are both implicitly and explicitly conveyed through the description of the brothers' behaviors in the opening Chapters? How do you come to these conclusions?

2. How come Ma does not answer Paps' phone calls in Chapter 9, TALK TO ME?

3. What are some examples at the start of Chapter 12, BIG-DICK TRUCK that demonstrate the financial situation of the narrator's family?

4. As the brothers hid in the bathtub, Paps and Ma pretend to not know and do not immediately come to find them. What deep fears does the narrator share about this lack of attention?

5. Why may Ma choose to call the narrator's family's new vehicle, "Big-Dick Truck"?

6. Why do the brothers dig up Old Man's garden?

7. How do you know that the narrator and his brothers are ravenous for more life according to the first page of the novel?

8. Why does Ma not want the narrator to get older like his other brothers?

9. How does Paps coerce Ma into not being so irate about about the new truck?

10. At the start of Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME, how does Paps show an expression of regret when he returns to the family's home?

(see the answer keys)

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