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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 Tamaya put on her hand to soothe her rash?

2. Why does Hope call Tamaya a "Goody Two-shoes" (5)?

3. When Marshall tells Tamaya he is sorry after she falls down in the woods, what is he apologizing for?

4. Whom did Monica see jogging past her house?

5. In the Chapter 11 excerpt from the Senate hearing, what concern do the senators express?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. When Ms. Filbert was assigning the reports about presidents, how did her behavior contradict her words?

4. 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?

5. Why has Chad come to Woodridge Academy?

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

7. What advice of Ms. Filbert's does Tamaya think about as she is about to go into the woods, and why does she think about it?

8. Describe Tamaya's relationship with her parents.

9. How do the stories that Chad tells help to show what kind of a person he is?

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What message about courage does Fuzzy Mud convey? How do various characters display--or fail to display--the kind of courage this book is talking about? What are the consequences of these choices? Do any characters grow and change in their ability to display courage? What relationship is there between the messages the text sends about courage and the two words on the Woodridge uniform? Does the text propose that people who strongly believe in virtue will automatically have courage, or are these two separate goals that people need to work toward? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about how the text defines courage and how characterization, plot, and textual details work together to support this definition.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

What message is conveyed through the contrast in settings in this text? Choose two settings and write an essay that compares and contrasts them and then makes a claim about what ideas are being transmitted by these similarities and differences. As you structure this essay, think about whether you want to write all about one setting and then all about the other, or whether you want to discuss similarities in one part of the essay and differences in a separate part of the essay. In either case, end your essay with a paragraph that shows what point Sachar is trying to make by creating these two separate settings. Support your ideas with evidence drawn from throughout the text, and remember that if you use quoted evidence, this should be cited in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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