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. Why does the narrator's mother question her about D?

2. In what movie does Tupac play a starring role?

3. What does Tupac's death force the narrator to consider?

4. For whom is Neeka's brother Albert named?

5. What does D think one needs to find in life?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Jayjones, why is he known at school and what does he want to do with his life?

2. How do the narrator and Neeka feel about Tupac?

3. When does D come back and what happens when the girls begin to jump rope?

4. What do the narrator and Neeka envy about D and what does Neeka ask D to bring the next time she comes?

5. For what does the narrator have a reputation?

6. What does D say looking at Tupac does to her?

7. How long has the narrator known Neeka and how did they meet D?

8. What does Neeka say to Jayjones when he tells her what happened to him at the park?

9. What does Tupac's death make the narrator think about and what is the rest of the book about?

10. What does the narrator and her mother discuss from the newspaper in Chapter 6 and what do they decide?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

D is a "throwaway child", and the system allows foster parents to take her on (for government payments) and then dispose of her at their will. Furthermore, the reader gets the sense that the court has erred in granting D's real mother custody, considering the mother's history of alcoholism and negligence.

1. What do you think are the major problems with the foster care system in the United States? Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

2. Do you think the courts should have so much power over the lives of children and their parents? Why or why not? Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

3. Discuss the mental and emotional impacts D's life situation might have on her in the long term. Use examples from the book and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Jayjones arrives anxious and out of breath. He had been exercising in the park and a cop stopped him, presumably because he is black and the racist cop believed he was running from a crime. Jayjones believes a mere suit and a college education do not prevent pervasive racism.

1. Police officers stopping minorities more often than whites is called racial profiling. What measures do you think should be taken to prevent racial profiling? Discuss your opinion in depth using examples from the book and your own life.

2. What would you do if you were Jayjones and stopped by the police for no reason? Discuss your options in depth.

3. Do you think Jayjones is correct that a suit and college education does not stop racism? Why or why not? Discuss your opinion in depth using examples from the book and your own life.

Essay Topic 3

Tupac's mother was in jail when she was pregnant with Tupac, arrested for being a member of the militant group the Black Panthers. The girls all admire the fact that Tupac loves his mother very much, despite some fights they have. D says looking at Tupac is like looking in the mirror, and that when he sings about his mother, it's like he's singing about D's real mother, whom she does not know.

1. What issues do you think are involved with women who are pregnant and in prison? Use examples from the book and your own opinion to support your answer.

2. D says looking at Tupac is like looking in the mirror, and that when he sings about his mother, it's like he's singing about D's real mother, whom she does not know. Discuss in detail what you think this statement means. Use examples from the book and your own opinion to support your answer.

3. The girls all admire the fact that Tupac loves his mother very much, despite some fights they have. Why do you think the girls believe Tupac loves his mother? Discuss the problem of a famous person's public face and his/her private face? Do you think they are different? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,192 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample