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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 is the last place that anyone besides Marshall and Tamaya saw Chad?

2. Who made the rule that prevents Tamaya from using the internet to help with her school work?

3. What first motivated Chad to turn against Marshall?

4. What is implied by the equations at the end of Chapter 7?

5. What does Tamaya's mother's question about Tamaya's report show about Tamaya's mother?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Tamaya's relationship with her parents.

2. What does Tamaya's response to the balloon writing prompt demonstrate about her as a person?

3. When he is lying away on the night after Chad's attack, what does Marshall decide is his best hope for a final ending to the situation with Chad?

4. What are some of the odd habits that Jonathan Fitzman has?

5. What does Ms. Filbert's balloon demonstration show about her as a teacher?

6. When he is lying awake on the night after Chad's attack, what two possible endings does Marshall imagine for a scenario where he tries to defend Tamaya from Chad?

7. Describe the changes that occur in Tamaya's rash overnight in Chapter 12.

8. What ideas are conveyed by the description of the history of the building Woodridge Academy is housed in?

9. What offer does Tamaya make to Marshall on their walk to school in Chapter 12, and why does she think his response is not very honest?

10. Why has Chad come to Woodridge Academy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do the realistic setting, characters, and plot of Fuzzy Mud all interact to keep the reader engaged in the story? Why does it matter that the story is set in ordinary places like a school, the woods, and students' homes? How do the thoughts and feelings of the ordinary children in this story help the reader bond with them? How does this bond increase the reader's engagement? In what ways is the plot realistic, and why does it matter that these things could really happen? Write an essay that uses evidence drawn from plot, characterization, and setting to show the many ways in which Fuzzy Mud is realistic and how Sachar's use of realism keeps the reader engaged.

Essay Topic 2

One effect of having multiple perspectives in a novel is that the reader gets to see events and characters from more than one perspective. Think of an event or character that seems one way when presented from either Marshall's or Tamaya's perspective but that you understand differently when the same event or character is then presented from the other character's perspective. Explain how this event or character is presented first and then show how the reader's understanding is enhanced or changed when the same event or character is seen from the perspective of a different character. Support your ideas with evidence from the text, and remember that if you use quoted evidence, this should be cited in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

What does Fuzzy Mud convey about what it means to be a good person or a bad person? Are there any characters who are all good or all bad? What role do circumstances play in some of the bad behavior in the book? Can a good person be influenced by circumstances or momentary weakness to do something bad? Do the characters who do things that harm others always intend to cause harm? Are these characters actually even trying to do something good, sometimes? Is it always possible to tell what the outcome of our actions will be? Write an essay that considers what the book as a whole is trying to communicate about what it means to be "good" or "bad" person. Support your claims with evidence drawn from throughout the text. If you use quoted evidence, remember to cite it in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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