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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. How does Neeka think she could help Tash out of his legal problems?

2. What does Neeka fear?

3. What is it about the East Side train that makes the narrator and Neeka's family uneasy?

4. What does Neeka say about Tash?

5. What does D say about a counselor's statement in a group home?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is D's history with foster homes?

2. What does Tash ask Jayjones and what does Tash say is the first thing he is going to do when he leaves prison?

3. What does Neeka say she wants to do when she grows up?

4. How does Neeka's family enter the prison and how do they feel about the guards?

5. What does Neeka's family do while visiting with Tash and what does Miss Irene say about his lawyer? What does Tash tell her?

6. How was Tash as far as dating and who did he fall for right before he went to prison, what was the man like and what did Tash convince himself about the man?

7. What does Tash look like when he comes into the visitation area and how does he act?

8. How does Miss Irene react to the photographer in Chapter 15?

9. Where does D have the girls get off the bus and how do they feel about entering the place where she has brought them?

10. What does the narrator's mother give her for her birthday?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tupac's shooting forced some to dismiss Tupac as a mere "gangster" who was a bad influence on black youth. The narrator saw him as a survivor and a hero. Even when Tupac was jailed and released an album from jail, the narrator admired him for his irrepressible spirit.

1. Why do you think the three girls see Tupac as a hero? Use examples from the book and your own opinion to support your answer.

2. Do you think the lyrics to music can be a bad influence on young people? Why or why not? Use examples from the book and your own opinion to support your answer.

3. Discuss, in your opinion, how the bill or rights which guarantees free speech applies to songs. Use examples from the book and your own opinion to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

There are a number of interesting questions raised by this book. Questions that most likely Butler wanted the readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the author's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss Woodson's probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

(see the answer keys)

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