View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. During the narrator's fight with Joel and Manny toward the end of the novel, what does Manny want the narrator to do?

2. In Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I WAS MADE, subsection: "MIDNIGHT," what does the narrator share with the reader about Paps and Ma?

3. What is the tone of the narrator's portrayal on page 103 of Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I AM MADE,?

4. According to page 122, what part of the body is washed to "pay him [the narrator] the ultimate respect" (122)?

5. What is the narrator sick of doing after leaving the dumpster in Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I WAS MADE?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. 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?

4. 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?

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

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

7. What does it say about the narrator when he ponders, "Who knows this mutt life, this race mixing? Who knows Paps?" (104) in Chapter 19, THE NIGHT I AM MADE?

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

9. 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?

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

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

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 3

Paps digs a "hole" in the backyard while the brothers watch from an upstairs window. The brothers debate whether it is a hole, trench, or grave. Why do the brothers see the hole as being more somber than what Paps' true intentions may be? What does Paps say that explains his own reasoning for the hole?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,302 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample