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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. How does Shawn's father talk to him?

2. When Sydney becomes famous for the poem, what famous person does he meet?

3. Shawn especially enjoys interacting with Becky when she places him where every day?

4. Why is Dad enraged and fearful after the experience with the crow?

5. Who is Paul?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Shawn's out-of-body experience like while his father is in the classroom shooting video with a cameraman?

2. How much control does Shawn have over his seizures?

3. How does seeing the death of the dog make Shawn feel?

4. When talking to her mother, how does Cindy explain her experience with the dog's death?

5. How does Shawn describe his experience with grand mal seizures as a child?

6. Why does Shawn think that it is cool to live in Seattle?

7. Describe what the special education class at Shoreline High School is like according to Shawn, and how the students behave.

8. According to Shawn, who is the Shawn in the poem written by his father?

9. Despite his irritation at the world premiere reading of the poem, what things does Shawn like about the poem?

10. How does Sydney McDaniel support his argument that schools waste money educating the ineducable?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sydney McDaniel writes a poem that wins him a Pulitzer prize. This poem symbolizes everything Mr. McDaniel sees and feels about Shawn's disability. Shawn, however, has mixed feelings about the poem. He believes that the fame that the poem brings his father has made him into a professional victim. He also sees the valid benefits of the fame. Name three ways in which the poem turns Sydney into a professional victim and several ways that the fame produces valid benefits for the family.

Essay Topic 2

One of Sydney McDaniel's main reasons for saying he wants to end Shawn's life is because he says he wants to end Shawn's "pain." What does Sydney think that the pain is like for Shawn when he has his daily seizures? Where does he get his information? Is he correct? Name three ways that Sydney's reaction to his son's seizures affects Shawn and the entire family?

Essay Topic 3

Shawn's mother calls his brother and sister into the living room, to tell Paul and Cindy that their father is working on the Earl Detraux project. Describe the reaction of Cindy and Paul to their father's latest project and the talk show.

Part 1) What is Cindy's reaction to her father's latest project, both before and after the kids discuss it with their mother. Does she already know about Detraux? What does she think about what Earl does? What does she think about her father's involvement in this topic, and to what does she attribute his involvement? Consider the same questions for Paul.

Part 2) Describe the difference in how Cindy and Paul react to their father's project after they discuss the topic with their mother.

(see the answer keys)

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