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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. Where does the narrator think Paps is digging to in Chapter 14, TRENCH?

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

3. After flying kites in Chapter 15, TRASH KITES, Manny crawls into the narrator's bed and says that he had a dream about what?

4. In Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I WAS MADE (subsection, "MIDNIGHT"), where does Joel believe the empty alcohol bottle touches down?

5. What subject is Manny always trying to teach the narrator and Joel about as brought up in Chapter 16, WASN'T NO ONE TO STOP US?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. Why might the brothers claim to be "Ma's Militia" (80) in Chapter 14, TRENCH?

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

4. 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?

5. What do you discover about the brothers' place in the neighborhood through the presentation on Page 90?

6. What does Manny's dream about kites represent for the brothers and their futures? Provide a quote that shows your reasoning.

7. How does the headbanger's interpretation of the chalk circle being separated in a way that looks similar to a peace sign contribute to the story?

8. How do the narrator's inner-reflections about his brothers while standing on the loading dock in Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I WAS MADE (subsection: MIDNIGHT) contrast what he has previously gives voice to?

9. What is the difference between Paps' reasoning and the brothers' assumptions about Paps digging a hole in the backyard? How does the reader know this?

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

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

While at the Lake, Ma asks the narrator how come he is unable to swim, which surprises him, because Ma should be well aware about an earlier incident when the narrator nearly drowned. The narrator considers, "She asked the question as if she was meeting me for the first time...as if it had only just now occurred to Ma how odd it was that I was here, clinging to her and Paps..." (20). What does the narrator's confusion reveal about his relationship with Ma?

Essay Topic 3

At the end of Chapter 9, TALK TO ME, the narrator and Joel impersonate a phone call between Paps and Ma that begins argumentative but ends in what could be considered rather contrasting reactions, either despairing or hopeful depending your viewpoint. What do Joel's final statements symbolize about family life and the future?

(see the answer keys)

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