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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. When does Paul realize what he is doing with the lighter?

2. When Shawn tells Ally that he loves her, what word or phrase does he almost add?

3. In Chapter 13, Shawn cannot stop thinking about his father. How long has it been since The Alice Ponds Show?

4. Cindy says something on the Alice Ponds Show that Paul calls "classic." What does she say?

5. In Chapter 12, while Shawn is outside on the front porch, what is the origin of the strong smell of fumes?

Short Essay Questions

1. Paul and Shawn's mother have opposite views about Sydney, Shawn's father. Who does Shawn agree with and what is his opinion of his father?

2. What did Shawn's father do at the Pacific Science Center when Shawn was eight years old?

3. What does Shawn mean when he says that "invisibility has its advantages" when it comes to girls?

4. What is the Annie-Sullivan-meeting-Helen Keller-in-The Miracle-Worker routine and what does Shawn think about it?

5. What is apparent about the relationship between Paul and his father after Paul finds out that his father wants him to go on the Alice Ponds show?

6. If Shawn has never been to his father's house, does Shawn have an accurate knowledge of what his father's bedroom looks like, and if so, how does he know?

7. On The Alice Ponds Show, there is a clip of an interview between Sydney McDaniel and Earl Detraux. What does Earl Detraux look like and what is his demeanor?

8. Why is Vonda excited to meet Shawn's father?

9. Why does Paul grab Cindy by the shirt front and pull back his fist to hit her?

10. After he sees his father's appearance on The Alice Ponds Show, why does Shawn say that he is floating in an ocean of negativity?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Shawn's father shows up at his class with a cameraman to tape footage for a PBS special on "Appropriate Allocation Decisions in an Era of Diminishing Funding," what are the similarities and differences between Shawn's father's beliefs and actions with those of Shawn's teacher and teacher's aides and how does Shawn feel about these people?

Part 1) What is the approach of Shawn's teacher and aids to the students in the class? What does Shawn think about these characters and why? How do these characters react to Shawn's father and his documentary? Why?

Part 2) While Sydney McDaniel is videotaping his special for PBS, what does he say about educating people who "cannot learn?" What does Shawn think about the points that his father makes? What in particular that his father says catches Shawn's interest in a big way?

Part 3) What are there similarities or differences between Shawn's father and the classroom teacher and aides regarding the way they think about and treat the children? What are they and why do they exist?

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Shawn remembers attending the reading of the Pulitzer Prize winning poem that Sydney McDaniel writes. Why does Shawn become uncharacteristically annoyed on the night of the poem reading? Are there any aspects of the reading that do not annoy him? Name at least three reasons for each and explain Shawn's feelings in each case.

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