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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 main reason for Rodriguez's success?

2. Where does Rodriguez go for his fellowship?

3. In the last chapters of the book, what is Rodriguez keeping secret from his family?

4. What is one thing that Rodriguez says happened to black students promoted through affirmative action?

5. What does Rodriguez think about his ability to succeed with women?

Short Essay Questions

1. Now that he is older, how do people respond to Rodriguez's skin color?

2. As more minority students attend college, what does Rodriguez notice about their relationship to their culture? Give specific examples.

3. How does Rodriguez use the label "minority student"? How does he feel about it? Give specific reasons why he feels that way.

4. How does Rodriguez explain psychiatry to his mother? Does she understand? Why or why not? How does that discussion connect to his book and what he is willing to tell her about the book?

5. What does Rodriguez's mother tell him about writing about their family? What does his editor tell him?

6. Why does Rodriguez's mother call him "Mr. Secrets"? In spite of his secretive behavior, what does Rodriguez believe she knows?

7. How do people respond to Rodriguez's skin color when he is younger?

8. How would Rodriguez change affirmative action? What examples does he offer to support his suggestion?

9. Rodriguez looks at the students of the 1960s and 1970s from a teacher's perspective. What does he see as the difference between them?

10. How do Rodriguez's ideas about religion change as he grows up? How does his practice of religion change?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Every book has flat and round characters. A flat character is two-dimensional, someone who serves a purpose in the book but does not seem like a living, breathing person. A round character is one who is fully developed and seems like a real person. If you read a story about a boyfriend and girlfriend eating dinner at a restaurant, the boyfriend and girlfriend will be round characters. The people at the next table or the waiter who serves them their food are probably flat characters.

Part One: Besides Richard Rodriguez, which characters in this book are round? In other words, which ones have fully developed characteristics and identities? Which ones do you feel like you really know? How big a role do these characters play in the book?

Part Two: Which characters are flat or two-dimensional? Do not try to list all of them, but pick out at least four characters that serve an important purpose, but still do not get fully developed. For example, how well developed is the priest who comes to visit? Or the group of black teenagers on the bus?

Part Three: Think as the author for a moment. Why did Rodriguez choose to make some important characters flat? Why did Rodriguez choose to make other important characters round? What does that say about the character or Rodriguez's relationship with the character?

Essay Topic 2

Part One: Compare and contrast Rodriguez's childhood view of religion and his adult view of religion.

Part Two: Rodriguez acknowledges that the church itself changed some of its practices as he grew up. What effect did that have on his decision to stay Catholic? Did it encourage him to re-evaluate his religious beliefs and practices?

Essay Topic 3

Many books written by minority authors identify the discrimination, challenges, and disadvantages faced by people of that minority group or culture. Rodriguez does acknowledge some of those things, but for the most part, his story is remarkably positive about ethnicity. In some cases, he actually identifies his ethnicity as a benefit or an advantage.

Part One: Identify at least two places in the book where Rodriguez identifies some element of his ethnicity as an advantage rather than a disadvantage.

Part Two: As a reader, what do you think about his handling of the ethnicity issue? Is he making things sound better than they really are? Do you think other writers might make things sound worse than they really are?

Part Three: Which approach would you rather read? Do you think your opinion has anything to do with your ethnicity or your life experience?

(see the answer keys)

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