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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. What does Jose tell Piri before he leaves?

2. Where are Billy and Danny from?

3. Who does Piri hear is in hospital?

4. What does Piri say he counts off instead of days?

5. What is Gerald writing a book about?

Short Essay Questions

1. What work does Piri find in Section 7?

2. Why must Piri and Brew sit at the back of the bus?

3. What is Piri's sentence for shooting the policeman and for the robbery?

4. What are Piri and Brew's plans in Section 5?

5. What does Piri think the girl who rubbed against him on the train said to her friends?

6. Why does Brew think the term "boy" is acceptable?

7. Describe the system the gang uses to rob bars and stores.

8. What do Piri and his family say to each other the next morning?

9. Describe the argument between Piri and his brother, Jose.

10. How does Piri feel about Trina marrying another man?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why is it important for Piri to have a good reputation? What do the students think Piri's life in New York would have been like if he did not have a good reputation? Was joining a gang or group is the only way to get a good reputation as a teenager in New York?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss with the students first person point of view. Why do the students think first person point of view is not necessarily reliable? What moments in the book do the students think are not so reliable and why? With the students discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using the first person.

Essay Topic 3

Outline Piri's prison routine How do the students think this routine benefited Piri? How did Piri make the most of his days?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 820 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample