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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. When her mother first suggests it, why does Tamaya not want to go to the doctor in the morning?

2. What does Chad call Marshall when he challenges him to a fight after school?

3. What is the name of the scientist who invented the product made at SunRay Farms?

4. When Marshall accuses Tamaya of "pokeying" on page 21, what is he saying she is doing?

5. Who is Mrs. Thaxton?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does knowing about Chad's threats make Chapter 5 more tense and suspenseful for the reader?

2. What is Tamaya's attitude toward following rules?

3. What are some of the consequences Marshall suffers at school because of Chad's bullying?

4. Describe how Marshall's attitude toward Tamaya has changed over the years.

5. 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?

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

7. Why does Marshall blame his parents for his problems with Chad?

8. Describe the setting of SunRay Farm.

9. What does Tamaya rub in Chad's face, and how does Chad react?

10. When other students speak up for Marshall during Mrs. Thaxton's questioning, what does this reveal about the situation with Chad turning everyone against Marshall?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Sachar use both flashback and flash-forward in this narrative? What is the difference between these techniques and the purposes they serve in this story? What similar purposes do they serve? Write an essay that analyzes how and why Sachar uses both techniques. Support your arguments with evidence drawn from throughout the book. If you use quoted evidence, remember to cite it in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

You have already spent some time thinking about the symbolism of the Woodridge Academy sweaters. But there are several other symbols that are important in the same section of the text. Think about the role that food plays in this section, for instance, or the importance of the trees Chad climbs. Choose another symbol from the part of the story where Tamaya goes into the woods to rescue Chad and Marshall ends up rescuing both Tamaya and Chad (Chapters 21-31). Write an essay that describes the symbol and then shows how this symbol is developed throughout this section of text. Make sure that your essay offers a clear theory about what the symbol conveys, and support your ideas with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

For Chad and Marshall, learning to understand themselves and their intentions more clearly is a journey that reaches a turning point when they are in the woods together for the second time. But their journey does not end here, of course--there are still many more chapters of the novel to go. How do the remaining chapters of the novel demonstrate whether or not these two boys have been successful in learning to understand themselves better? Is there evidence that they have made progress by the end of the novel, or do they fall back into their old ways? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about whether the things they realized about themselves in the woods have had a lasting impact. 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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