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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. Why does the narrator say he is embarrassed by his brothers in Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I WAS MADE?
(a) Because they spoke to him in "sharpened insults" (108).
(b) Because "they snorted out little chuckles from their noses" (108).
(c) Because they "cultivated a facility with language and a bitter spite" (108).
(d) Because of "their saggy clothes..." (108).

2. Who goes to the park at the start of Chapter 13, DUCKS?
(a) Ma goes to the park alone, and the brothers come find her.
(b) The brothers and the headbanger.
(c) Ma and the brothers.
(d) The brothers go to the park alone, but Ma comes and finds them.

3. Initially, what does the bus driver ask the narrator in Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I WAS MADE?
(a) If the narrator wants to go for a ride through town.
(b) If the narrator is lost.
(c) If the narrator is going to New York.
(d) If the narrator wants some candy.

4. What is the final act of kindness Paps shows toward the narrator?
(a) Paps takes the narrator into the narrator's bedroom and helps him gather his clothes.
(b) Paps sings a song to the narrator, so the narrator is able to fall asleep.
(c) Paps holds the narrator and rocks him back and forth.
(d) Paps gently and meticulously bathes the narrator.

5. Why is Paps going to Niagara Falls in Chapter 17: NIAGARA?
(a) Paps wants to see the beautiful scenery of Niagara Falls.
(b) To drive a package.
(c) To fly a package.
(d) Looking for a job.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the Grices' son, the headbanger, carrying when he comes outside in Chapter 16, WASN'T NO ONE TO STOP THIS?

2. How much older is the Grices' son, the headbanger, than Manny?

3. Who do the brothers imitate while playing their chalk circle game in Chapter 16, WASN'T NO ONE TO STOP THIS?

4. Why do the brothers call themselves, "Ma's militia" (80)?

5. In Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I WAS MADE, subsection: "MIDNIGHT," what do Manny and Joel say in connection to a negative view of the narrator?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I AM MADE (subsection: MIDNIGHT), why do Manny and Joel say that the narrator is "...fucked up..." (110)?

2. Why is Manny the first one to come out of the dark to face the headbanger after breaking a window of the headbanger's family camper?

3. What do you believe is Ma's original intention when she takes the brothers to the park? How does the reader know that?

4. In Chapter 15, TRASH KITES, how does the reader know that the narrator feels differently from his brother Joel about watching Manny be beaten by Paps? What does this say about the narrator as a character?

5. How does the narrator react to seeing his journal in Ma's lap at the end of the novel?

6. What "lie" does the narrator assume his brothers think about their futures while standing on the loading dock?

7. After Paps leaves the narrator alone at museum, an older man ambiguously asks the narrator, "I guess you're a bit young for that. What about your folks?" (100). What are some implications that can be made about the old man's statement?

8. How does Ma react when she returns home to find the hole in the backyard?

9. At the start of Chapter 16, WASN'T NO ONE TO STOP THIS, while playing a game, what do the brothers' imitation of Paps divulge about their sensibilities?

10. How do you know that the narrator and the bus driver have a sexual encounter? (Provide a quote.)

(see the answer keys)

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