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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At the end of Chapter 15, TRASH KITES, what is Manny's idea to "save" the brothers?
(a) Get Ma, pile into the truck, and drive away.
(b) Run away.
(c) Find a way to reverse gravity.
(d) Build a big kite that will take them away.

2. How does the narrator's family react when he first arrives at home from the bus station in Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I WAS MADE?
(a) They "imagined perversions" (116).
(b) They spoke to him "in bold and explicit language" (116).
(c) They are "calm and assured" (116).
(d) They "looked...with such ferocity" (116).

3. On the highway, why does a woman offer to bring the brothers anywhere they need to go?
(a) Because they are sitting on the edge of a bridge on the highway alone.
(b) Because the brothers are alone outside the drugstore.
(c) Because she sees that Paps and Ma are drunk.
(d) Because she notices they are having a physical fight.

4. What memory does the narrator bring to mind at the end of Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I AM MADE?
(a) The narrator realizes he will be sent to a psychiatric ward.
(b) The narrator is reminded that he will not be part of his brothers' lives anymore.
(c) The narrator is brought back to a time when he was picked on by his brothers.
(d) The narrator is reminded he will no longer have a mother.

5. What does the headbanger liken the brothers' sidewalk chalk circle to in Chapter 16, WASN'T NO ONE TO STOP THIS?
(a) A sacrificial sign.
(b) The sun.
(c) The moon.
(d) A peace sign.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Manny says, "We should have killed that fucking woman," (73) what woman is he alluding to?

2. What does Ma mean by, "But I need you to tell me what to do?" to the brothers at the park (72)?

3. In Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I WAS MADE (subsection, "MIDNIGHT"), where does Joel believe the empty alcohol bottle touches down?

4. What do the narrator and Paps eat after leaving the museum in Chapter 17: NIAGARA?

5. Who is sitting in the living room at the Grices' house when the boys arrive in Chapter 16, WASN'T NO ONE TO STOP THIS?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the headbanger's interpretation of the chalk circle being separated in a way that looks similar to a peace sign contribute to the story?

2. Why is Manny the first one to come out of the dark to face the headbanger after breaking a window of the headbanger's family camper?

3. After Paps leaves the narrator alone at museum, an older man ambiguously asks the narrator, "I guess you're a bit young for that. What about your folks?" (100). What are some implications that can be made about the old man's statement?

4. What does the author's choice to intertwine the narrator's episode in the locker room while watching the pornographic video contribute to uncover the narrator's notion of sexuality?

5. How does the narrator feel when Paps holds him over Niagara Falls? What might this narrator's intuition say about the narrator?

6. In Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I AM MADE (subsection: MIDNIGHT), why do Manny and Joel say that the narrator is "...fucked up..." (110)?

7. How do you know that the narrator and the bus driver have a sexual encounter? (Provide a quote.)

8. Why might the brothers claim to be "Ma's Militia" (80) in Chapter 14, TRENCH?

9. How does the narrator react to seeing his journal in Ma's lap at the end of the novel?

10. How do the narrator's inner-reflections about his brothers while standing on the loading dock in Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I WAS MADE (subsection: MIDNIGHT) contrast what he has previously gives voice to?

(see the answer keys)

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