When

I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda

Santiago
68-question multiple-choice test

Product description: This is a detailed, multiple choice reading test for When I Was
Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. There are 68 plot-based questions and each
question has five answer choices. Answer key is included.

Offered in Word and PDF for easy editing. You could add a short writing/analysis
question to the end to tailor the test to your needs.

The questions are broken up by section so the questions can also be used for
reading quizzes.

This product also contains study guides to help students prepare for the test. Study
guides include: a graphic organizer for students to track settings and main events, a
blank family tree, a character analogy chart, and a smaller character chart for minor
characters.

Time: Study guide-2 hours
Test- 30 minutes


Thank you purchasing this product! I am open to feedback, so please contact me if
you have any. If this product was useful to you, please let me know that as well. J

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 1

I gave each chapter a number since the chapter titles often gave away some of the
question answers! Please use the chart below if you need to separate the questions
for reading quizzes.

Prologue: How To Eat a Guava
Chapter 1: Jíbara
Chapter 2: Fighting Naked
Chapter 3: Someone Is Coming To Take Your Lap
Chapter 4: The American Invasion of Macun
Chapter 5: Why Women Remain Jamona
Chapter 6: Mami Gets a Job
Chapter 7: El Mangle
Chapter 8: Letters From New York
Chapter 9: Casi Señorita
Chapter 10: Dreams Of A Better Life
Chapter 11: Angels On The Ceiling
Chapter 12: You Don’t Want to Know
Chapter 13: A Shot At It
Epilogue: One Of These Days

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 2

Name_____________________________________________Period_____________________Date___________

Study Guide for When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago

Test Information: This study guide is to prepare you for a 68-question test on
When I Was Puerto Rican. The questions are plot based and test whether or not you
read for detail. The questions are also in chronological order. Filling in the study
guide below will help you prepare for the test.

Chapter Settings Main Events
Note the places in which List 4-7 events from this chapter.
Esmeralda lived in this
chapter.
Prologue:
How to Eat a
Guava

*Why is the guava important to Esmeralda?

1: Jíbara






2: Fighting
Naked





3: Someone
Is Coming To
Take Your
Lap



4: The
American
Invasion of
Macun

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 3

5: Why
Women
Remain
Jamona




6: Mami Gets
a Job






7: El Mangle







8: Letters
From New
York





9: Casi
Señorita






10. Dreams
of a Better
Life

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 4

11. Angels
On The
Ceiling




12. You Don’t
Want To
Know




13. A Shot At
It





Epilogue:
One Of These
Days

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 5

 Family

Directions: In the space below, draw Esmeralda’s family tree. Include her
grandparents, her parents, her siblings, and any other relatives from the story.




Mami---------------------------------------Papi





Esmeralda
(Oldest) (Youngest)












Character Analogies



Directions: An analogy is an extended comparison between two unlike objects.
Come up with an analogy for each character below and explain your analogy.

Example: Romeo Montague is like a _______________________ because___________________

Romeo Montague is like a bottle of Icy Hot because he experiences two extremes in
a very short time period. At the beginning of the play, he was very, very upset
because the girl he loved, Rosaline, did not love him back. Later that night, Romeo
was madly in love with Juliet.

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 6


Esmeralda is like a ____________________________ because



Mami is like a _______________________ because



Papi is like a ________________________because



Delsa is like a _____________________ because



Norma is like a ______________________ because



Hector is like a _____________________ because



Raymond is like a____________________ because



Tata is like a ___________________ because

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 7

Other Characters To Brief Description/Role in Esmeralda’s Life
Know
Doña Lola

Doña Zena

Margi

Rita

Alicia

Juanita

Don Berto

Lalao

Ignacio

Tato

Gloria

Jenny

Doña Cony

Senora Leona

Don Luis

Titi Generosa

Johannes Velez

Don Julio

Francisco

Mr. Barone

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 8


Name____________________________________________Period____________Date_____________________

When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
Multiple Choice Test

Directions: This is a 68-question multiple-choice test. Questions are in
chronological order. Please choose the best answer for each question and put your
answers on the Scantron.

Prologue

1. Which type of fruit does the author describe at length in the prologue?

a. a banana
b. a pear
c. a papaya
d. a guava
e. an apple

2. What does the fruit in the above question symbolize?

a. childhood
b. family
c. missed opportunities
d. freedom
e. sadness
Chapter 1

3. What was the name of the small, country town where Esmeralda spent her
childhood years?

a. San Jose
b. Rincon
c. Mancun
d. Aguadilla
e. Fajardo

4. In her early childhood home, Esmeralda’s mother worried about not having
a floor in the house. Why?

a. The house would get dirty.
b. The girls would hurt themselves.
c. It would be too much work for the father to install the floor.
d. Scorpions and snakes could crawl into the house.
e. It would get muddy during the rain season.

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 9



5. What happened to Esmeralda when she tried to help her father with the
floor in their home?

a. She hit herself on the hand with a hammer.
b. She was attacked by termites.
c. She stepped on a nail.
d. She successfully helped install the floor.
e. She twisted an ankle.

6. What was the word for a Puerto Rican “country dweller”?

a. jíbara
b. cowboy
c. hacendado
d. rancher
e. hombre

7. What was Esmeralda’s nickname?

a. mariposa
b. negi
c. doll
d. bella
e. azul

8. How did the author get her nickname?

a. From family members who thought she was careless
b. From friends who felt she was always sad
c. From Dona Lola who thought she was pretty
d. From her grandmother who commented on her dark skin
e. From her father who always treated her as the baby of the family

9. In this chapter, when Esmeralda was still young, why did Esmeralda’s
neighbors, Doña Lola and Doña Zena, come to the house and pick-up
Esmeralda and her siblings for the day?

a. They were paid babysitters.
b. They were family and the girls needed to meet their cousins.
c. Esmeralda’s mother was having a baby.
d. Esmeralda’s mother was gravely ill.
e. Both of Esmeralda’s parents were sick.

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 10

 Chapter 2

10. What did Esmeralda’s parents mostly fight about?

a. Money
b. Papi not being home enough
c. Mami not being home enough
d. How to discipline the kids
e. Where to send the kids to school

11. In the country house, what separated the kids’ room from the parents’
room?

a. nothing
b. walls
c. a sheet
d. beads
e. a half-wall

12. When did Esmeralda usually wake up?

a. With the roosters; she was an early riser
b. Late; she slept in later than anyone
c. With the kids so that she could take care of them
d. With Mami
e. With Papi

13. What was the name of Esmeralda’s younger brother?

a. Juan
b. Hector
c. Miguel
d. Antonio
e. Alejandro

14. Who was Margi?

a. Esmeralda’s neighbor
b. Esmeralda’s father’s mother
c. Esmeralda’s half-sister
d. A prostitute
e. An aunt who lives in New York City

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 11

15. Where did Margi live?

a. New York
b. San Juan
c. Mancun
d. Miami
e. San Diego

16. According to Mami and her friends, who was always to blame for any
unhappiness in a household?

a. daughters
b. sons
c. wives
d. men
e. pets

17. Esmeralda started school in this chapter. What were some of her
observations?

a. There were many rules to follow and her family was much poorer than others.
b. There were no rules.
c. There were many rules and most other students were from the barrio.
d. Adults were not respected.
e. School fights always made sense because it was clear why students were fighting.

18. What did Esmeralda’s mother do after Papi did not come home for a three
days in a row?

a. Packed the kids up and moved to a suburb of San Juan
b. Stayed in Mancun and continued to care for the kids herself
c. Looked for work in Mancun
d. Sent a brother to look for Papi
e. Cried for three days straight

Chapter 3

19. In this chapter, what did the kids at school call Esmeralda?

a. Santa Claus
b. jibara
c. coqui
d. peligro
e. fat

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 12

20. Why did Mami not like Rita?

a. She insulted Mami’s cooking.
b. She hurt Esmeralda’s feelings.
c. She was cheating on her husband.
d. She liked to hang around bars and act irresponsibly.
e. She would not let Mami pay the rent late.

21. What was in Esmeralda’s favorite foods and snacks that grossed her out?

a. crickets
b. rice
c. blood
d. meat chunks
e. spices

22. Esmeralda’s new baby sister was born in this chapter. What was her name?

a. Alicia
b. Delsa
c. Norma
d. Betty
e. Eden

23. Which fruit grew in the grove the Esmeralda was forbidden to enter?

a. banana
b. orange
c. grapefruit
d. avocado
e. apple

24. Who was Esmeralda’s best friend while she was living in the country?

a. Rosita
b. Dora
c. Kayla
d. Gracie
e. Juanita

25. Whose funeral did Esmeralda lead the procession for?
a. Papi
b. Papi’s mother
c. Don Berto
d. Rosita’s mother
e. Doña Lola

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 13

26. Who owned the finca that Lalao was taking care of?

a. Carnegies
b. Rockefellers
c. Townsends
d. Smiths
e. Warrens

27. What was considered good luck by Esmeralda’s mother?

a. Getting wet by the first May rain
b. Killing a scorpion
c. Eating soft-boiled eggs
d. Picking 4-leaf clovers
e. Walking to school
Chapter 4

28. While living in the country, how did Esmeralda and her siblings get a free
breakfast every day except Sunday?

a. By gong to the community center
b. By getting free lunch as school
c. By picking fruits for Mami before school
d. By working for the neighbors
e. By working at a new restaurant in town

29. What changes came to the country when Puerto was established as part of
the United States?

a. People were encouraged to brush their teeth.
b. People were warned about health risks such as worms and head louse.
c. Many townspeople were offered jobs.
d. a & b
e. All of the above

30. What vaccine did Esmeralda and her sister have to get?

a. chicken pox
b. whooping cough
c. polio
d. hepatitis
e. meningitis

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 14

31. Esmeralda’s friend, Ignacio, criticized Eisenhower and the United States by
calling them-

a. Imperialists
b. Existentialists
c. Trash
d. Poor
e. Wealthy

32. Esmeralda and her sisters got new clothes in this chapter. Where did the
clothes come from?

a. The store owned by the locals
b. The new community center built and funded by the Americans
c. Tourists from Britain
d. Their grandma from New York
e. A non-profit from Canada

33. Why does Esmeralda get in trouble at the community center?

a. She hit another kid and was disrespectful to an adult.
b. She left trash on the table and was disrespectful to an adult.
c. She threw up her milk and was disrespectful to an adult.
d. She made a hole in the wall with a ball.
e. She broke a toy.

Chapter 5

34. What is a “jamona”?

a. A type of fruit found in Puerto Rico
b. A stray dog that is unhealthy
c. A piece of sports equipment
d. An ice cream flavor
e. A woman who has never married

35. In one scene, Esmeralda does not want her grandma to know that she was
crying about her father. In order to disguise why she was crying, what did
Esmeralda do to herself?

a. slammed her hand with a door
b. fell of a rocking chair
c. jumped off the stairs
d. dropped a rock on her foot
e. stuck herself with a thorn

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 15

36. What craft did Esmeralda’s grandma teach her?

a. quilting
b. knitting
c. needlework
d. scrapbooking
e. sketching

37. Where had Esmeralda never been until her grandmother took her there?

a. to a toy store
b. to a church
c. to a cemetery
d. to a pet store
e. to a restaurant

38. Who was supposed to pick Esmeralda up from her grandmother’s house
when the visit was over?

a. her father
b. her mother
c. her aunt
d. her uncle
e. her neighbor

39. Who actually picked up Esmeralda from her grandparents’ house?

a. her father
b. her mother
c. her aunt
d. her uncle
e. her neighbor

Chapter 6

40. Where does Esmeralda’s mother get a job?

a. at a neighbor’s house watching children
b. at a roadside food vendor
c. at a factory
d. at a restaurant in San Juan
e. at a new office run by the Americans

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 16

41. What Esmeralda’s punishment for spending time with Tato behind the
latrine?

a. a beating with a frying pan
b. 30 minutes in “time-out”
c. doing her sisters’ chores for 1 week
d. taking care of her siblings for 1 week
e. no candy

42. Who took care of Esmeralda’s siblings while their mother was at work?

a. Lola
b. Gloria
c. Alyssa
d. Andrea
e. Yamila

43. What regret does Esmeralda have about Raymond?

a. That she let him ride on Jenny’s bike.
b. That she let him go to his friend’s house.
c. That he got bitten by a dog when at the park.
d. That she never got him a nice Christmas present.
e. That she never told him how much she loved him.

Chapter 7

44. In this chapter, Esmeralda’s family moves again to El Mangle. What smell
dominated the lagoon in El Mangle?

a. perfume from the factory
b. garbage
c. human waste
d. flowers
e. mangos

45. What was the special favor Esmeralda was chosen to do for Doña Cony?

a. Help carry a casket at a funeral.
b. Close the eyes of her dead baby.
c. Watch her dog for three weeks.
d. Clean her outhouse.
e. Cook dinner for her children.

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 17

46. How was Esmeralda’s relationship with Senora Leona, the teacher at her
new school?

a. Esmeralda learned a lot from her.
b. Senora Leona made Esmeralda happy.
c. Senora Leona boosted Esmeralda’s self-esteem.
d. Esmeralda hated Senora Leona.
e. Esmeralda mostly disliked Senora Leona, but sometimes she liked her.

Chapter 8

47. What chore did Mami hate doing the most, but Esmeralda didn’t mind
doing at all?

a. cooking
b. dusting
c. folding
d. shopping
e. ironing

48. What was the dominant reason Esmeralda’s mother went to New York for
the first time?

a. To find a new place to live
b. To escape her responsibilities at home
c. To find a doctor for Raymond
d. To buy a purse
e. To sightsee

49. Who did Esmeralda have to stay with when Mami went to New York?

a. Mami’s Evangelical cousins
b. Papi and her other siblings
c. Papi’s grandmother
d. Mami’s mother
e. Papi’s cousins
Chapter 9

50. What instrument did Esmeralda want to learn how to play?

a. the flute
b. the guitar
c. the piano
d. the trumpet
e. the drums

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 18

51. Who gave Esmeralda music lessons?

a. a friendly neighbor
b. the school principal
c. a private tutor
d. a classmate
e. a school teacher

52. In this chapter, Esmeralda’s mother went to New York again. Who watched
Esmeralda and all of her siblings most of the time Mami was gone?

a. Papi
b. Abuela
c. Abuelo
d. Tio Lola
e. Titi Generosa
Chapter 10

53. Mami comes back from New York a second time. What, seemingly all of
sudden, becomes important to Esmeralda’s mother (Mami) when she gets
back from New York?

a. getting married officially
b. getting Raymond’s foot amputated
c. getting a steady job
d. having another child
e. moving back to the country

54. Who was Esmeralda’s first suitor?

a. Johannes Velez
b. Matias Velez
c. Nico Domingo
d. Armando Santos
e. Francisco Portillo
Chapter 11

55. Esmeralda’s mother moved part of the family to New York. Who met
Esmeralda, her mother, and her siblings at the airport when they arrived in
New York?

a. Esmeralda’s cousins
b. Mami’s cousins
c. Papi
d. Tata and Don Julio
e. Francisco

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 19


56. What was Negi’s first impression of New York?

a. The skyscrapers were intimidating.
b. It felt familiar.
c. It was sunny and warm.
d. It was devoid of people.
e. It was dark and cold.

57. Where did Mami take Esmeralda to eat during her first few days in
Brooklyn?

a. the deli
b. a pizza place
c. a tapas place
d. a Greek place
e. a specialty bakery

58. What made Esmeralda upset when she and her mother went to register for
her new school in Brooklyn?

a. It was a small school.
b. It was an all-female school.
c. They were trying to place Esmeralda in seventh grade.
d. The class sizes were extremely large.
e. They did not offer the classes Esmeralda was interested in taking.

59. Esmeralda’s new school had many student groups. Which group below was
not one of the groups at Esmeralda’s new school in Brooklyn?

a. African American students
b. Italian students
c. Upper middle-class students
d. Jewish students
e. Brooklyn Puerto Rican students

60. How did Esmeralda and her family stay warm that first winter in
Brooklyn?

a. by lighting the fireplace in the apartment
b. by turning the heat up in the apartment by four degrees
c. by having everyone snuggle in one bed
d. by turning on the kitchen oven and opening its door
e. by plugging in space heaters in all of the rooms

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 20

61. Who did Esmeralda’s mother fall in love with in Brooklyn?

a. Edwin
b. Michael
c. Francisco
d. Julio
e. Angelo
Chapter 12

62. What did Esmeralda’s father do as soon as the first half of the family left
for New York?

a. went into mourning
b. moved back to the country
c. married another women
d. got a new job
e. bought a horse

63. Where did Mami often take Esmeralda so that Esmeralda could translate
for her?

a. school
b. work
c. welfare office
d. post office
e. doctor’s office

64. Why did Esmeralda and her siblings spend a lot of time inside?

a. They enjoyed relaxing inside.
b. Their neighborhood was dangerous.
c. It was cold outside.
d. It was always raining.
e. They were always inside reading books.

Chapter 13

65. What type of high school did Esmeralda want to go to?

a. a private school
b. a Catholic school
c. a public high school
d. a science school
e. a performing arts school

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 21

66. Who helped Esmeralda prepare for the high school she wanted to go to?

a. Delsa
b. Tata
c. Mr. Barone
d. Mami
e. Yolanda

67. True or False: Esmeralda got into the high school of her choice.

a. True
b. False

Epilogue

68. What university did Esmeralda attend?

a. Yale
b. Harvard
c. Columbia
d. Penn State
e. James Madison

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 22

Answer Key

1. D 11. C 21. C 31. A 41. A 51. B 61. C
2. A 12. A 22. A 32. D 42. B 52. E 62. C
3. C 13. B 23. C 33.C 43. A 53. A 63. C
4. D 14. C 24. E 34. E 44.C 54. A 64. B
5. B 15. A 25. C 35. A 45. B 55. D 65. E
6. A 16. D 26. B 36. C 46. D 56. E 66. C
7 .B 17. A 27. A 37. B 47. E 57. B 67. A
8 .D 18. A 28. A 38. A 48. C 58. C 68. B
9. C 19. B 29. D 39. B 49. A 59. D
10. B 20. D 30. C 40. C 50. C 60. D

© 2016 The Practical English Teacher 23