View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Cedar Lake is best described as:

2. Who is the main character?

3. How did Ralph react to the cut lip?

4. How did Ralph's father win the "major award"?

5. What fascinated Ralph's father in his spare time?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ralph's mother react to the fight?

2. What happened when Grover Dill tripped Ralph on his way home from school one time?

3. What makes Flick think that Ralph has a dirty mind?

4. Why is it more interesting to hear the story about the Christmas plot to get a BB gun from a child's perspective rather than from the voice of "Adult Ralph"?

5. Why is Ralph an Outsider Looking In during the fishing trip?

6. How is Ralph punished for damaging the family car?

7. Why does Ralph think people in Northern Indiana like fireworks so much?

8. Why is Cedar Lake special to Ralph and Flick?

9. What does Ralph believe exists inside every male child?

10. What made Ralph's father's fireworks show so noteworthy one year?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ralph was clearly fascinated by the Little Orphan Annie Secret Circle Club. Explain why he was so determined to be part of the membership club. Why did he feel such a need for membership? What did he learn about commercialism and real life from the secret club? Why was it a lesson he kept with him into his adulthood?

Essay Topic 2

The BB gun was an important gift in Ralph's childhood and remains something he clearly is fond of in his adult life. Why was it such an important gift and time in his life? Why does he remember every detail as an adult? What do you think he learned from that story?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme "an outsider looking in" and how it affected the book and Ralph as a character.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 962 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample