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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When the family car breaks down in the rain, what does Paps use to protect the brothers?

2. What kind of accent does Old Man have?

3. How does Ma describe the difference between loving younger sons to older ones?

4. What does the narrator hope Paps and Ma will do after the brothers' hide from them in Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME?

5. Who is Paps listening to the radio when the boys come home after school in Chapter 3, THE HERITAGE (8)?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Why do the narrator and Joel hide in a crawlspace when Paps returns home after being gone for many days?

5. Having the knowledge of Ma's grueling work schedule and unstable behavior, why might the narrator say after Ma awakes confused, "It was a Sunday, but no one told Ma that" (5)?

6. 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?

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

9. 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?

10. At the end of Chapter 10, NIGHT WATCH, Paps says,"We're never going to escape this...Never" (60). What is he sure the narrator's family will not escape?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The three brothers all take turns lying in the hole Paps has dug. Each one has a very disparate experience of what it is like to lie down inside feeling the cold, hard dirt against their backs. How is the narrator's experience different from the other brothers? What does the narrator's state of mind say about his character in contrast to his brothers?

Essay Topic 2

In reference to the narrator asking Paps about the caged light in Chapter 6, NIGHT WATCH, on the ride home from Paps' work, the brothers incessantly ask Paps if he has the capability of unlocking and freeing the light. How does this interrogation from all three brothers show their concern about Paps' power? What is a possible relation to this conversation and the brothers' own futures and potential?

Essay Topic 3

When Paps purchases a new and rather pigheaded truck for the family, Ma is furious with his decision. In Chapter 12, BIG -DICK TRUCK, there are many reasons that she brings forth to justify her position, but beyond her words, her overall attitude and behaviors also contribute to how she is perceived as feeling. How does Ma's reaction further give insight to her relation with Paps? What does Paps behavior about the incident allow his character to become more complex and versatile?

(see the answer keys)

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