View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The last line of the narrator's final thoughts are, "Upright, upright, I say, I slur, I vow" (125). How may this line be interpreted?
(a) The narrator trying to battle agains his circumstances, but it is difficult when he is under the influence of medications that make him slur.
(b) The narrator needing to fight agains the psychiatric ward, get healthy, and finally lead a normal life.
(c) The narrator attempting to sit up in bed, and then mumbling about his struggle.
(d) The narrator has given up, cannot even speak anymore, and does not know where he is at.

2. Instead of an open field, where does Manny think the brothers should have slept to elude Paps in Chapter 15, TRASH KITES?
(a) In their neighbor's camper.
(b) In a field with more trees.
(c) In the woods.
(d) In an abandoned barn.

3. Why does Paps take the narrator to Niagara Falls and not Joel and Manny?
(a) Because Joel and Manny are flunking out of school and cannot miss more days.
(b) Because Joel and Manny are grounded for getting into a fight.
(c) Because Joel and Manny get sick with chicken pox.
(d) Because Joel and Manny have already seen Niagara Falls.

4. Why is the narrator frightened by what his brothers want to do to the Grices' camper in Chapter 16, WASN'T NO ONE TO STOP THIS?
(a) He is afraid they will be arrested.
(b) He is afraid Paps is watching them.
(c) He is afraid they will be punished.
(d) He is afraid they will hurt someone.

5. What does the narrator most likely mean when he says, "I've lost my pack" (125) at the end of the novel in the psychiatric ward?
(a) He lost any hope for meeting other boys like him.
(b) He has lost the relationship he had with Ma, Paps, and two brothers.
(c) He has lost any chance of being part of a regular family.
(d) He is no longer part of normal human society.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Paps tell the narrator when he pulls him out of the hole in Chapter 14, TRENCH?

2. Out on the loading dock in Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I AM MADE, what do the narrator and his brothers look toward?

3. What does Ma mean by, "But I need you to tell me what to do?" to the brothers at the park (72)?

4. What does Ma say to the brothers at the park while they are hiding in a canoe?

5. What name does Manny call the woman trying to help them?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator deviate from the other brothers when it comes to lying in the hole Paps has dug?

2. How does the narrator feel when Paps holds him over Niagara Falls? What might this narrator's intuition say about the narrator?

3. Why does Manny claim that he wants to "reverse gravity" (85)?

4. What doubts does the narrator have about why he wrote his personal longings in his journal?

5. Why does the narrator believe that his family is so furious about what he has written in his journal?

6. What is the narrator's mood after being "made" by the bus driver?

7. What does the author's choice to intertwine the narrator's episode in the locker room while watching the pornographic video contribute to uncover the narrator's notion of sexuality?

8. Why is it unusual for the narrator to be dancing like a "mer-man prince" (100) at the museum theater in Niagara Falls?

9. How does Paps comment about the narrator's dancing: "Goddamn, I got me a pretty one" (102) contribute to your understanding of Paps understanding of his son?

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,378 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample