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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. 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.

2. What object does the narrator use to tell the reader the size of the fish in the lake as mentioned on Page 19?
(a) Crescents.
(b) Cigarettes.
(c) Clumps.
(d) Leaves.

3. Why does Old Man compare the brothers to locusts?
(a) Because they are damaging his garden.
(b) Because locusts are ugly like the boys.
(c) Because they will quickly fly away back to their house.
(d) Because they are both in his garden.

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

5. Why do the brothers have to go with Paps to work in Chapter 11, NIGHT WATCH?
(a) Because Paps needs extra help.
(b) Because Ma is working too, and no one is at home to watch them.
(c) Because Ma is asleep at home, and they will wake her.
(d) Because Paps is afraid the boys will get in trouble.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Paps do when Ma yells at him, "This fucking big-dick truck" (64)?

2. What meal does Old Man prepare for the brothers?

3. In the opening of Chapter 2, NEVER-NEVER TIME, why are the brothers wearing raincoats?

4. What does Lina call Ma after arriving at the narrator's house?

5. At the start of the novel, how many boys, also brothers, are introduced?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. How does the reader know that Ma was a naive teenager when it came to sex as explained in Chapter 6, US PROPER?

4. What may the Quote provided before the Title Page relate to you about a theme or important motif of the novel?

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

6. Why is the narrator confused when Ma asks him why he is unable to swim in Chapter 5, LAKE?

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

8. What previous incident may have led Joel to ask a pregnant woman outside a drugstore if she was tricked into having a baby?

9. 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?

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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