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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 old was Garrett when he started his Jordan sneakers collection?

2. How old was Matt when he finally swung back at Rasul?

3. What did Nanny get for hitting Mrs. Todd in Chapter 6?

4. In Chapter 3, what recipe did Matt remember was passed down from his Granma Lula Mae?

5. On what street in Plainfield was Kaye's hair salon?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Emmett Till?

2. What did a girl accuse Rasul of doing at a baseball practice in 1987?

3. Who was Nanny?

4. In 1987, why did Nanny punch a woman named Mrs. Todd?

5. What was Nanny's Big Yellow House like?

6. What does Johnson say in the Author's Note about how Black boys are viewed?

7. Why was Nanny not arrested for punching Mrs. Todd?

8. How did Nanny discipline the boys?

9. What did Nanny do when Aunt Cynthia called her a bitch over the phone?

10. How did Johnson and the other boys spend their Saturdays at Nanny's?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Johnson fondly remembers Thanksgiving dinners. How were food and Black culture interrelated? How was food “Black Joy” and a way “of showing love” (143)?

Essay Topic 2

Nanny used corporal punishment to discipline her grandsons. How did Nanny use corporal punishment? Why did Johnson believe punishment should not be the "primary form of 'justice' for bad choices" (47)?

Essay Topic 3

An allusion is a figure of speech that does not directly refer to a person, place, or thing. What are some allusions in We Are Not Broken? Why might it be difficult to decipher an allusion just by the context of a passage in a book? How do the allusions Johnson uses help readers’ understanding of individuals, events, or concepts?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 873 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample