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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. Who drove when the family started out on their journey to take Francisco to college?

2. Whose nickname was Trampita?

3. What object did Francisco's father often place under his bed in hopes of warding off evil spirits?

4. What class did Francisco take from Dr. Vari?

5. What was Francisco's response when his college roommate Smokey asked him where he was born?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe an instance when Jimenez uses a simile in order to underscore the nature of a particular emotion.

2. What did a green uniform used to signify for Jimenez and why?

3. For what reason does Jimenez allude to John Steinbeck within the opening chapters of Reaching Out?

4. Contrast Smokey's favorite pastime with Jimenez's favorite pastime during their freshman year.

5. What caused Jimenez to join the Reserve Officers Training Corps during college?

6. For what length of time did the Jimenez family live in the United States after their first arrival there?

7. Discuss a time in the memoir when Jimenez makes a connection between racism and some other form of prejudice.

8. How did Jimenez come to be an avid fan of Elvis Presley?

9. What has been the nickname of Jimenez's little brother Jose Francisco throughout the boys' lives and why?

10. Which aspect of Jimenez's departure for college causes him unexpected pain?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Jimenez’s use of the first person point of view to tell his own story serve the purposes of the text? Discuss how Jimenez’s choice of point of view helps to advance the treatment of at least three particular themes within the text.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Jimenez's purpose for juxtaposing at least two different locations in a particular way within the text of Reaching Out.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Jimenez’s use of Aristotle's appeals within the text of the memoir Reaching Out. How does Jimenez use each of the three appeals to persuade the reader of points central to the overall messages of the work?

(see the answer keys)

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