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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. Where does the narrator think Paps is digging to in Chapter 14, TRENCH?

2. What does the narrator do in the theater at the museum in Chapter 17: NIAGARA?

3. What does Joel say is the reason for Paps' digging a hole in the backyard?

4. After flying kites in Chapter 15, TRASH KITES, Manny crawls into the narrator's bed and says that he had a dream about what?

5. What does the reader discover about the narrator on page 105 of Chapter 18, THE NIGHT I AM MADE, as the brothers stand on the loading dock?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. What do you discover about the brothers' place in the neighborhood through the presentation on Page 90?

3. Why does the narrator believe that his family is so furious about what he has written in his journal?

4. What doubts does the narrator have about why he wrote his personal longings in his journal?

5. 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?

6. What does it say about the narrator when he ponders, "Who knows this mutt life, this race mixing? Who knows Paps?" (104) in Chapter 19, THE NIGHT I AM MADE?

7. In the final Chapter, ZOOKEEPER, what do you realize about the narrator's mindset?

8. At the end of Chapter 16, WASN'T NO ONE TO STOP THIS, the narrator says, "Why won't you look at me, my brothers, why won't you take my eyes?" (97). Why does the other want his brothers to "take his eyes"?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 3, HERITAGE, Paps explains that the brothers are not Puerto Rican, white, or rich, but asks them to individually dance as if they belong to one of these cultural/racial/socioeconomic statuses. Why does Paps want the brothers to imitate all three types of heritage groups? What does Paps believe each group embodies by the way the brothers dance?

Essay Topic 2

In reference to the narrator asking Paps about the caged light in Chapter 6, NIGHT WATCH, on the ride home from Paps' work, the brothers incessantly ask Paps if he has the capability of unlocking and freeing the light. How does this interrogation from all three brothers show their concern about Paps' power? What is a possible relation to this conversation and the brothers' own futures and potential?

Essay Topic 3

When Paps purchases a new and rather pigheaded truck for the family, Ma is furious with his decision. In Chapter 12, BIG -DICK TRUCK, there are many reasons that she brings forth to justify her position, but beyond her words, her overall attitude and behaviors also contribute to how she is perceived as feeling. How does Ma's reaction further give insight to her relation with Paps? What does Paps behavior about the incident allow his character to become more complex and versatile?

(see the answer keys)

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