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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. Where does Eddie's mother rush off to after learning of her husband's death in Chapter 5: “Show Us the Planets”?

2. Where does Eddie demand to go looking for his father when he did not arrive home in Chapter 5: “Show Us the Planets”?

3. Who hands out the workers' pay in Chapter 9: “An Improvement”?

4. What is the name of the town where the workers are taken to the depot in Chapter 9: “An Improvement”?

5. Who brings up the idea of the barn by the depot as a quarantine in Chapter 12: "Obeah Juju"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator describe the journey in the minivan when Darlene went to Delicious Foods?

2. What foreshadowing is related in Chapter 11: “Eclipse”?

3. How does the narrator describe the evolution of Eddie's relationship with Tuck in Chapter 14: “Lost Years”?

4. Where does Tuck say Darlene had gone when speaking to Eddie in Chapter 10: “Drunken Bum Knows”?

5. What encounter is described between Eddie and Nacho Vasquez in Chapter 6: “Your Own Cord”?

6. How is Eddie's life in Houston described in Chapter 2: “Blackbirds”?

7. What is revealed about Tuck's past in Chapter 12: “Obeah Juju”?

8. What do Darlene's yellow shoes come to represent symbolically to her?

9. What does Darlene see Jackie doing at night in Chapter 11: “Eclipse”?

10. How is Eddie regarded by the police on his first visit in Chapter 6: “Your Own Cord”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and analyze the character of Eddie in the novel. How old is Eddie when the story begins? What has happened to Eddie in the prologue? What is the outcome for Eddie in the end of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the plot structure of Delicious Foods. Where in the narrative does the exposition transition to rising action? Where does the climax occur? What information is revealed in the falling action and denouement?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the character of Sirius in the novel. What kind of relationship does Sirius form with Darlene? What happens to Sirius after he leaves Delicious Foods? How and why does he return?

(see the answer keys)

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