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. Which sport does Dave not think much of when Asa asks him to help him?

2. Why is Jean happy when Asa calls her?

3. How is Asa awakened in the middle of the night?

4. Which Little League team has not scored a single run in the first four games of the season?

5. Who does Asa telephone when he returns home?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Asa's mother tell him about love when he tells her that he is in love with someone?

2. Why does Asa's mother decide that she no longer wants to take her antidepressant medication?

3. How does Dave injure Asa during baseball practice and what does Asa do to retaliate?

4. What is the nature of Asa's mother's illness and what impact has it had on Asa's transient life?

5. In what area do Asa and Dave build some sort of relationship?

6. Who gives Asa the candy hearts and how is the loving mood broken by the teacher's announcement?

7. Why does Asa have to pack his things on the day he tells Jean he loves her?

8. What is so unusual about Asa's being in the same school for three years and what has Jean observed about Asa during this time?

9. Why does Asa find it impossible to tell Dave that he loves him?

10. How does Asa finally get the nice bedroom and why does Dave often walk in without knocking?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Asa's troubling relationship with Dave. How does Dave treat Asa? How does Asa try to rise above the conflict in this important relationship? What does Asa learn--good and bad--through his relationship with Dave?

Essay Topic 2

What is the greatest lesson Asa learns from Dave? Is it that important lessons are also painful ones? What will Asa always recall about his life with Dave as his stepfather?

Essay Topic 3

Create a brief character study of Asa. What did he look like? What were his positive personality traits? What were his dreams and fears? What was most valuable to him in his world?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 803 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample