49 pages • 1-hour read
A Child Called It: One Child’s Courage to Survive
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Quiz
Reading Check, Multiple Choice & Short Answer Quizzes
Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.
Chapters 1-3
Reading Check
1. Who is Dave Pelzer? How old is he and where does he live at the beginning of Chapter 1?
2. What TV show does Dave liken his family to before his abuse started in the 1960s?
3. Who are the members of the Pelzer family in Chapter 2?
4. Why is Dave’s mother crying as they stare at the Christmas tree in Chapter 2?
5. What does Dave’s mother start to call Dave once the abuse starts?
Multiple Choice
1. What do we learn about the appearance of Dave’s mother in Chapter 1?
A) She is as beautiful as he remembers her when he was much younger.
B) She has lost weight after starting a new exercise regime.
C) Her appearance has drastically changed over time; now she is usually hungover with swollen eyes and clumped hair.
D) She cares very much about her appearance; she always wears stylish clothing for her sons and husband.
2. How did Dave determine whether his mother would be in a good mood on a given day?
A) if his mother packed his lunch
B) if his mother drove him to school
C) if his mother made dinner for the family
D) if his mother came out of her room dressed up and wearing make-up
3. How did Dave’s relationship with his brother Stan differ at school as opposed to at home?
A) They were friends at school, but Stan ignored him at home.
B) Stan defended Dave at home against their mom, but he was too embarrassed to be seen with him at school.
C) There was no difference; the brothers were inseparable at home and at school.
D) There was no difference; Stan ignored Dave at home and at school.
4. After narrowly escaping the incident with the stove, Pelzer recalls the following thoughts: “I stood against the wall and began to whimper until I realized that I had beaten her. I had bought a few precious minutes. I used my head to survive. For the first time, I had won!” (Chapter 3). Which of the following literary devices is used in this quote?
A) alliteration
B) onomatopoeia
C) anaphora
D) allegory
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. During the early years of his childhood, Pelzer recalls how attentive and loving his mother was with him and the family. Describe some of his examples of her behavior.
2. Pelzer begins to recount the horrors of his abuse in Chapter 3. Describe some of the ways his mother starts to abuse him at home. Did she treat anyone else in the family similarly?
Chapters 4-6
Reading Check
1. How does Dave’s mother control his food intake?
2. Who is Russell?
3. What does Dave’s mother do when she learns that Dave tries to eat out of the trash can?
4. What is Dave’s private nickname for Russell?
5. What is the “gas chamber” treatment?
6. Who reports to the principal that there is suspected abuse in Dave’s family?
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following best describes Dave’s relationship with his family in Chapter 4?
A) He is in conflict with his mother, but he is on good terms with the rest of the family.
B) He feels protected by his two brothers when his mother abuses him.
C) He is best friends with his father, who defends him against his mother.
D) He feels like he is no longer a part of the family.
2. Dave imagines that his father would react to “the accident” by “ripping off his shirt to expose his true identity, before flying through the air like Superman” (Chapter 5). Which of the following literary terms is used in this quote?
A) personification
B) metaphor
C) simile
D) alliteration
3. On one of the nights that Dave is forced to sit outside while his family eats dinner, he finds comfort in the following thought: “Closing my eyes, I could see the smiling face of my new teacher. That night as I sat outside shivering, her beauty and kindness kept me warm” (Perspectives on Child Abuse). Which literary device is used in Dave’s description of his teacher?
A) personification
B) metaphor
C) simile
D) alliteration
Short-Answer Response
Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Compare the Pelzer family’s vacations at the Russian River in Chapters 2 and 4. How do Dave’s experiences differ each time?
2. What is “the accident” that happens in Chapter 5? How do Dave’s mother and father react? What does Dave decide to do himself?
3. Describe Dave’s relationship with his father after “the accident.” Does his father defend him more from the mother’s violence? Explain.
4. In Chapter 6, Dave recounts a noticeable change in his mother’s behavior towards him. Why does this change occur? How long does the change last?
Chapter 7-Perspectives on Child Abuse
Reading Check
1. What does Dave do after childhood?
2. Who is Stephen in Chapter 7?
3. Where is Stephen’s favorite location?
4. According to Pelzer, how many children are abused in the U.S.?
Multiple Choice
1. In Chapter 7, Pelzer recalls how he behaved in the fifth grade: “When I was given the luxury of food, I ate like a homeless dog, grunting like an animal at Mother’s commands. I no longer cared when she made fun of me, as I hurried to devour even the smallest morsel. Nothing was below me.” How does Pelzer use figurative language in this quote?
A) He uses personification to represent his mother as an animal.
B) He uses a metaphor to compare his mother to a dog owner.
C) He uses anaphora to highlight his pain.
D) He uses a simile to compare himself to a dog.
2. What does Dave’s reaction to his father moving into a motel imply about his relationship with his father?
A) He is happy that his father is able to escape his deteriorating marriage.
B) He is depressed that he will not see his father anymore.
C) He is angry and jealous that his father is leaving his family, especially without him.
D) He is scared that his father will struggle with alcoholism more once he has left home.
3. in the final section entitled “Perspectives on Child Abuse,” Pelzer makes the following statement on child abuse: “Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun, not living in a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.” What type of figurative language does Pelzer use in this quote?
A) personification
B) metaphor
C) simile
D) alliteration
Short-Answer Response
1. What are some of the different ways abuse victims try to deal with their past?
2. What are Pelzer’s two objectives in sharing his story?
Quizzes – Answer Key
Chapters 1-3
Reading Check
1. Dave is a fifth grader living in Daly City, California. He is a child who is abused at home, but the teachers at his school have intervened in order to protect him (Chapter 1).
2. “The Brady Bunch” (Chapter 2).
3. Stephen (the father), Catherine (the mother), Ronald and Stan (Dave’s brothers), and Dave (Chapter 2).
4. because she is so happy to have a “real family” (Chapter 2)
5. a “bad boy” (Chapter 3)
Multiple Choice
1. C (Chapter 1)
2. D (Chapter 3)
3. A (Chapter 3)
4. C (Chapter 3)
Short-Answer Response
1. She regularly organizes picnics and vacations for the entire family. One of these vacations is to the Russian River, which becomes Dave’s favorite place in the world. She loves to celebrate holidays and to cook meals (Chapter 2).
2. She smashes his head into the mirror and tells him to repeat the phrase “I am a bad boy” to his reflection; she hurts his arm and takes him to the hospital, saying that he fell off his bunk bed; she tries to make him get on top of the stove. Dave notices that his mother singles him out from his siblings (Chapter 3).
Chapters 4-6
Reading Check
1. She usually does not feed him meals, or she feeds him his siblings’ leftovers (Chapter 4).
2. the Pelzer family’s fourth child, and Dave’s little brother (Chapter 4)
3. She puts in rotten meat and ammonia so he gets food poisoning and becomes sick (Chapter 4).
4. his mother’s “little Nazi” (Chapter 5)
5. the torture treatment where Dave’s mother locks him in the bathroom and forces him to clean it with Clorox and ammonia (Chapter 6)
6. Dave’s fourth-grade substitute teacher (Chapter 6)
Multiple Choice
1. D (Chapter 4)
2. C (Chapter 5)
3. A (Perspectives on Child Abuse)
Short-Answer Response
1. While Dave's experience at the Russian River in Chapter 2 is an overwhelmingly positive and loving memory, his time at the Russian River in Chapter 4 is largely negative. During this time, his mother tries to force him to eat feces from Russell’s diaper (Chapters 2 and 4).
2. After drinking, Dave’s mother accidentally stabs him with a knife. Although he is bleeding profusely, she does not take him to the hospital and makes him finish his chores. His father ignores Dave and tells him not to make his mother more upset. Dave is given a few moments with his family outside; however, he is still sent back inside to sleep in the basement. He chooses to dress his wounds himself instead of asking anyone in his family for help (Chapter 5).
3. Pelzer notes that after the stabbing, his father drinks alcohol more. Although his father promises to take him away, in reality, he spends more time away from home, which ultimately allows for Dave’s mother to become more violent with him (Chapter 6).
4. Dave’s mother apologizes for her behavior and allows him to be part of the family again (e.g., by wearing new clothes, bathing, playing with his siblings, and eating with the family at dinner). A social worker comes a few days after these changes and asks him how he is treated in the house. After the social worker leaves, Dave’s mother continues her violent and abusive behavior towards him (Chapter 6).
Chapter 7-Perspectives on Child Abuse
Reading Check
1. He joins the Air Force (Chapter 7).
2. his son (Chapter 7)
3. the Russian River (Chapter 7)
4. one in five children (Perspectives on Child Abuse)
Multiple Choice
1. D (Chapter 7)
2. C (Chapter 7)
3. B (Perspectives on Child Abuse)
Short Answer
1. some kill and abuse family members, become violent in society (e.g., mass murders), disappear from society, join gangs, hide their past, or try to deal with their abuse (“Perspective on Abuse”)
2. His first objective is to show how a loving parent can change and become violent, and his second objective is to show the strength of the human spirit (Perspectives on Child Abuse).
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