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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. How is the reader initially tipped off that the headbanger is showing the brothers a pornographic movie?

2. 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?

3. What is the reader led to believe by what is in the back of the truck in Chapter 13, DUCKS?

4. What does the narrator think while Paps holds him over the Falls in Chapter 17: NIAGARA?

5. What does the reader discover about the narrator on page 105 of Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I AM MADE, as the brothers stand on the loading dock?

Short Essay Questions

1. What may readers surmise by the narrator's description of feeling delighted by the sound of the damage done to the Grices' camper?

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

3. 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?

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

5. How does the narrator relate a stray cat's neglect of drinking milk they have given to her to Ma?

6. At the end of Chapter 16, WASN'T NO ONE TO STOP THIS, the narrator says, "Why won't you look at me, my brothers, why won't you take my eyes?" (97). Why does the other want his brothers to "take his eyes"?

7. How does Ma feel after visiting the park? What statements or behavior show her feelings?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The final Chapter, ZOOKEEPING is only one page long, but it is still one of the most moving. The narrator's perception of reality are ambiguous and scattered. Review the final chapter for clues about the mental state of the narrator. Summarize how the chapter provides closure, even though it is not explicitly written. How does the writing of the final chapter shift from previous chapters? What does the last line of the chapter represent about how the narrator is handling his situation in the psychiatric ward?

Essay Topic 2

Ma's co-worker, Lina, visits the narrator's house after Ma has not shown up to work for a few days. Lina shows great sympathy and intimacy toward Ma. How does Lina's response to Ma show a disparate way of how Ma has been treated by others? Why might the author have included this exchange in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 3, HERITAGE, Paps explains that the brothers are not Puerto Rican, white, or rich, but asks them to individually dance as if they belong to one of these cultural/racial/socioeconomic statuses. Why does Paps want the brothers to imitate all three types of heritage groups? What does Paps believe each group embodies by the way the brothers dance?

(see the answer keys)

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