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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. Though Manny described the houses in their project development as being not "pretty or stylish" (23) he said that sometimes they had one quality that made them beautiful. What was that one quality?

2. When Manny described a fight he had once seen at the pool hall, what did he say about it?

3. How did Manny's father lose his job as a translator for the city?

4. When Manny and Rebecca got to the pool hall to find Manuel, who told Rebecca that Manuel had already gone home?

5. What item did Manny have his eye on that caused him to want to work in the fields to earn money?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Manny mean when he said, "Miracles don't wait for doubters" (8) once Nardo had agreed to come work in the fields with him?

2. What kind of relationship did Manny's father and mother have?

3. How did Mr. Hart give Manny $20 even though Manny had refused it?

4. What is the significance of Manny's daydream about being on the baseball team and having people looking at him?

5. What details does Manny reveal to the reader about his teacher Mr. Hart?

6. What caused Rebecca to think that Manuel was somewhere in the pool hall even though Rico told her that Manuel had gone home?

7. What is the significance of Manuel's words to Manny after he snatched the $20l from Manny's pocket?

8. Why did Mr. Hart take a roundabout way when he took Manny home?

9. Why did Manny travel to his school even though it is still summer?

10. How does the theme of "otherness" emerge within the aftermath of the Immigration officers' removal of the illegal immigrants from the field?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a feminist criticism essay of the novel, using textual evidence to back up your strong, specific claim regarding the treatment of gender roles in the book.

Essay Topic 2

Examine the topic of work within the novel. Look at Manny's description of inheriting his grandfather Ignacio's "useful blood" (6) and the contrasting attitudes toward work displayed by Nardo and Manuel. Look also at other discussions of work and ambition in the novel, such as Manny's pronouncement of Albert's risky decision to join the boxing team since he was academically inclined, and pull concrete details from those examples to support your claims.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Manny Hernandez, the protagonist of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, to Holden, the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye. Which of the the messages sent by Victor Martinez and J.D. Salinger are the same and how do those messages differ? Provide concrete details from both novels in order to support your claims.

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