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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. According Chapter 5, THE LAKE, who is the only one in the family allowed to say he/she is scared?
(a) The narrator.
(b) Ma.
(c) Manny.
(d) Joel.

2. When Paps and the brothers return home from Paps' job in Chapter 11, NIGHT WATCH, what are they shouting?
(a) "No More Crying! No More Crying!" (59).
(b) "Stop, stop" (59).
(c) "He crying?" (58).
(d) "Thump, thump, thump" (58).

3. At the start of Chapter 9, TALK TO ME, what does Ma cut her fingertip on?
(a) The edge of a soup can.
(b) A metal toy.
(c) A broken beer bottle.
(d) A piece of glass.

4. What does the pregnant woman tell the brothers about babies outside the drugstore?
(a) She needs money for diapers.
(b) All babies have daddies.
(c) The brothers need to get away from her.
(d) All babies are Christian.

5. What does Lina call Ma after arriving at the narrator's house?
(a) Little One.
(b) Shorty.
(c) Comrade.
(d) Amiga.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the narrator know Paps and Ma are fighting when Paps returns home in Chapter 9, TALK TO ME?

2. What explanation does Paps say to his sons about Ma's swollen purple cheeks?

3. What object does the narrator use to tell the reader the size of the fish in the lake as mentioned on Page 19?

4. What promise does Paps eventually make to Ma about the truck?

5. How does the reader know how Old Man feels about the brothers?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does the narrator feel when Paps and Ma discover him after the narrator nearly drowns in the lake?

3. 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?

4. Even though it is not explicitly mentioned in the novel, how does the author convey that Ma has been abused by Paps in Chapter 4?

5. After Ma asks the brothers if they think it is funny when men beat women, the narrator retreats to a window and looks into he sun and says, "I could not blind myself" (16). How does this statement contribute to the nature of the narrator's desires?

6. How do you know that the novel is being written in first-person?

7. 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?

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

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

10. What metaphorical significance can be determined by the fact that Ma and the narrator cannot swim and hang on to Paps in order to stay afloat?

(see the answer keys)

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