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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. What is the sideshow boy drinking while people come to see him?

2. Who are Toby and Cal spying on at the beginning of Chapter 6?

3. Why does Toby pick up the dropped item he finds in Chapter 6?

4. Who rode Toby's bike at the end of Chapter 4?

5. Who almost gets in trouble while viewing the sideshow?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the town rumor about Ferris?

2. Why do the boys continue to leave food items on Zachary's steps?

3. Why is Toby awake extra early at the beginning of Chapter 9?

4. What amazes the boys about Zachary when they see him take the grocery sack from his steps?

5. Why does Toby believe that Cal is good with kids?

6. In the letter from Wayne that Cal reads to Toby on top of the bowling alley, what does Wayne write about?

7. Discuss the development of Gossimer Lake.

8. Why do Toby and Cal sit on top of the bowling alley at the beginning of Chapter 6?

9. Why is there often a dog in the sheriff's car?

10. How do Toby and Cal try to determine whether Zachary really is the fattest boy in the world?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the importance of water throughout the novel.

Essay Topic 2

What is tone? What was Toby's tone at the beginning and end of the novel? What does the change in tone throughout the novel suggest?

Essay Topic 3

What is the significance of Kate to the story? How might the novel had differed if she had not been introduced as a minor character?

(see the answer keys)

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