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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. Instead, what does Grandma do?

2. How does Grandma react to Mary Alice's arrival?

3. What is Augie Fluke intent on proving to Mary Alice?

4. Out of whom does Grandma squeeze a whole silver dollar?

5. Mary Alice accompanies Grandma upstairs for what reason?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Grandma continue to taunt the pranksters during the party? How might the pranksters feel about this?

2. Where does Mary Alice go directly after arriving in town? What is happening there when Mary Alice arrives?

3. How does Grandma greet Mary Alice? Why might she act this way?

4. Describe Halloween in this town. Why might it be like this?

5. What is burgoo stew? How might this represent life during the Great Depression?

6. What does Grandma do when she arrives at the Pensingers' residence? Why does she do this?

7. How has Bootsie changed since he moved in with Grandma? What has led to this change?

8. How does Grandma get back at Old Man Nyquist? Should she have done this? Why or why not?

9. How can Mary Alice now find out who the pranksters were?

10. How does Grandma defeat Mildred, the bully? What lesson does this teach Mary Alice?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A "dangerous man" arrives in town.

Part 1) Who is this man? Describe him and the reason he is in town. Why might people of this town consider him dangerous? How do these fears affect the way they treat him? How does Grandma take advantage of this? Why does she do this?

Part 2) Describe the event that leads the citizens of this town to like him even less? Is he to blame for this surprising and shocking incident? Why or why not? Why does the town see him as guilty?

Part 3) How does Grandma help to turn the town's opinion around regarding this man? Why does she want to help him? What does this turn-around reinforce about this town?

Essay Topic 2

Mildred Burdick is a bully.

Part 1) How is Mildred a bully? Why is she a bully? How has this bad behavior been passed down through the generations in the Burdick family?

Part 2) How are others affected by Mildred's behavior? What happens to Mildred by the end of the book? What does this say about bullies? What might this also reveal about the author's opinion of bullies?

Part 3) How have you been affected by bullying? How have you dealt with bullying? How has society worked toward stopping bullying? Has it been successful? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

A tornado hits the town.

Part 1) Describe the events surrounding the tornado. How did this tornado affect the citizens of this town? Why did the author have a tornado touch down in this town? What is revealed through this natural disaster?

Part 2) What other major events take place in this story? How are these events important? How do they affect the plot and the characters?

Part 3) What events have been significant in your own life? How have these events affected you? How do these events compare to the events in this story?

(see the answer keys)

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