View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What book does Josh see an old man reading in "Third Wheel"?

2. What stylistic literary device is evident in the following phrase from "Showoff"? "... a sick slick sliding sweet seven-foot shot."

3. In "Basketball Rule #1" the narrator says, "In this game of life, your family is" what?

4. Where does Josh describe going on his way home after practice in "Second-Person"?

5. Where does the narrator say JB wants to attend college in "JB and I"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Josh define "Tipping Point" in the poem with the same name?

2. How do JB and Josh respond to their father's collapse in "I"m on Free Throw Number Twenty-Seven"?

3. Why does Crystal Bell make her husband sit in the top row of the bleachers during basketball games?

4. What is the meaning of the title to the poem "Second-Person"?

5. Why does Josh lie to his father in "35-18"?

6. How is the "character" of Filthy McNasty described in the poem by the same name?

7. How are the careers of Josh's parents described in the narrative?

8. What is the rule stated in "Basketball Rule #5"? What is its significance?

9. How did Josh Bell get his nickname? What is the significance of Josh's nickname?

10. What metaphors are seen in "Basketball Rule #1"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the motif of basketball in The Crossover. What correlations does the author make between basketball and life? How is this motif related to the themes of the verse novel?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the style of the poems in The Crossover. Does the author employ rhyme and meter throughout the poems? What are examples of similes, metaphors, and other literary devices employed in the poems?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the use of nicknames in The Crossover. What is Josh's nickname and what significance does it have? What is Chuck's nickname and how did he obtain it? How do these nicknames reflect upon the characters in the story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 769 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample