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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 is the name of the prisoner who joins Steve and the others on July 11?

2. Steve describes his fear of getting raped or beaten as what kind of object?

3. Which side of Mr. Nesbitt's body do the bullets enter?

4. Why, according to Bobo, is he in jail?

5. How does Petrocelli frame Doctor Moody's answer about the cause of death?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did King visit Ms. Moore on the day of the crime?

2. What does Henry mean in the pretrial questioning when she says she is having trouble testifying that King was involved in the crime?

3. How do readers know what Steve's verdict is, based on the screenplay?

4. What does O'Brien say she is going to do on the weekend of the 11th?

5. What happens when Steve is made to mop the floor?

6. What has O'Brien asked Steve to do when his response is to write down Mr. Sawicki's name twice?

7. What is the visitors' room like?

8. Who owns thel gun used in the crime, and is it a legal gun?

9. When O'Brien comes to see Steve on July 14 after Bobo's testimony, what does she say she has to now do in court to save Steve?

10. What do the prisoners eat for breakfast on Sunday, July 12?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

While novels are written media, screenplays are the written version of a visual media, film. This book also contains several typographical elements as well as photographs and drawings to communicate visual information. Taking into account all of these formats, describe the fictional strategies Myers has employed to construct imagery and images in this book. How does he blend visual media with written media effectively?

Essay Topic 2

This story relies not only on journal entries, but also on scenes from a screenplay to establish plot, setting, characterization, action, and other fictional elements. Write an analytical essay explaining how Walter Dean Myers establishes Steve's point-of-view in these screenplay scenes. In addition, be sure to include detailed analyses of how this specific point-of-view effectively communicates fictional elements including, but not limited to plot, setting, or characterization.

Essay Topic 3

The narrative style of this novel is rather unique. Write an analytical essay that describes and analyzes the particular method Walter Dean Myers uses in Steve's journal entries to establish and communicate this point-of-view. In addition, what are the narrative benefits of such a point-of-view? How do these journal entries most effectively tell those parts of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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