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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 Beto ask Gabi after he comes home on February 28?

2. Who else is present in the room when Cindy's baby is born?

3. What is wrong with the first prom dress Gabi gets?

4. How did Gabi feel after she did the thing that Martin proposed with him to help with her stress and depression?

5. Why does Gabi travel to Tijuana in April?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ian do that surprises Gabi when she gets to his house early for their group work?

2. What is Gabi's zine that she produces in April mainly about?

3. What does Georgina tell Gabi in March that utterly shocks Gabi?

4. What topic does Gabi focus on in her poem about her father that she writes in December?

5. How does Gabi know that Beto is having a hard time with their father's death?

6. What does Gabi get in the mail the day after Christmas that she is excited about?

7. What plans does Gabi have to cancel in order to work on poetry with Martin in December?

8. What does Georgina get in trouble for in February?

9. How does Gabi's mother react when Gabi gets accepted into Berkeley?

10. What does Gabi think of the experience of seeing Cindy give birth?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Poetry and literature are powerful influences on Gabi over the course of the novel. Specifically, she begins to realize that although some writers she likes have radically different racial and cultural backgrounds from her, she connects strongly with their ideas, themes and styles. Choose at least two writers Gabi mentions and write an essay exploring the writers' influences on Gabi's view of the world.

Essay Topic 2

How does hearing Gabi's criticisms of her seem to affect Gabi's Tia Bertha at the end of the novel? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text.

Essay Topic 3

Although Gabi loves her family fiercely, she dreams of leaving her hometown to attend college, which she is poised to do at the novel's end after being admitted to Berkeley. Write an essay analyzing the ways in which Gabi chooses to break with her family's traditions and expectations of her.

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