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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. Who does Palmer decide to tell about his pet Nipper?

2. How many different colors does Palmer count on the pigeon while the bird eats?

3. What does Palmer finally admit to Dorothy?

4. What does Palmer ask the boys to check him for when the bird is gone?

5. What is the thing Palmer does not want to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 15, Palmer goes through a series of emotional reactions to the pigeon tapping on his window. What are some of those reactions?

2. Who does Palmer find in his room the night before the pigeon shoot? Why? What do we learn about Palmer?

3. How does Palmer come up with the name for his pigeon? What do people feel about animals when they name them? How does Palmer feel about his pigeon?

4. How does Palmer react in Chapter 13 when he is awakened by tapping? Who does he think is at the window? What does he find?

5. How do Palmer's parents react to The Treatment?

6. Palmer waits for Nipper to return in Chapter 22 and by nightfall Nipper has not done so. How does Palmer react to the pigeon's disappearance? How does his mood change when Nipper returns? What important decision does Palmer make when Nipper returns?

7. When the gang attacks Dorothy with snow balls on the first day of school, Palmer joins in without hesitation. How does he rationalize his behavior toward her?

8. Once he has decided to name and keep Nipper, Palmer realizes he must divert the gang from coming to his house. Why does he want to keep the boys away? What are some of the excuses he invents?

9. Palmer comes home after the boys see a pigeon flying overhead and he cries. Why is he crying? What does he admit about his day?

10. What does Beans pull out of the freezer when the gang is at his house? What does he do with it? The author does not tell us how Palmer feels about what Beans has done. Based on what you know of Palmer, how does he feel about the prank?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When talking to Palmer about Nipper, Dorothy asks "why don't they just let him alone? What did he ever do to them?" Palmer's response is a powerful moment in the novel. What does Palmer say to Dorothy? Discuss the implications of his statement.

Essay Topic 2

There are two traditions in Palmer's town that frighten him, and yet he is drawn toward them both. What are these traditions? Why do they both frighten and interest Palmer? How are these two traditions similar?

Essay Topic 3

When Palmer's father catches the fly ball at the ballgame and gives it to Palmer, the narrator says Palmer held the ball on the way home and "imagined he felt a heartbeat." What does the narrator mean by this statement?

(see the answer keys)

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