"Lights Out"

What can the reader infer about Dexter during most of the play?

• He is nervous about traveling without his parents.

• He has difficulty falling asleep without his mother reading to him.

• He is anxious about staying with Grandma.

• He is worried about forgetting Mr. Snowball.

The drama has just one scene because —

• only two characters speak

• the setting is indoors

• the setting does not change

• no new characters are introduced

Which of these is an important idea explored in this play?

• Taking a trip can be a rewarding experience.

• Children often find comfort in things that are familiar.

• It is sometimes difficult to live far away from grandparents.

• Family members often disagree with each other.

The prefix in- helps the reader understand that the word insincere in

paragraph 18 means —

• without understanding

• with careful thought

• explaining what is meant

• not meaning what is said

Which sentences from the story reveal that Dexter is still quite young and immature?

• DEXTER: [Picks up a stuffed polar bear and strokes its head.]

  Mr. Snowball doesn’t like it when you call me a goof.

• LEO: Don’t worry. We’ll put the bear in the backpack you are going to

  take on the bus. Now turn the light off! [Dexter turns off light.] Good

  night, Dex.

• DEXTER: [After a long pause.] Leo, are you going to miss Chloe

  Barnett as much as I’d miss Mr. Snowball if I left him behind?

• LEO: [Sits up in bed and turns on his lamp.] What? What makes you ask

  that?

What is the best summary of the play?

• Leo is trying to sleep, but his younger brother Dexter keeps talking to him about a

  bus trip the boys will be taking the next day. Leo finally reads Dexter his favorite

  book, and Dexter falls asleep.

• Leo and Dexter are about to go on a bus trip without their mom or dad, and

  Dexter keeps talking about it. Dexter asks Leo whether he is going to miss a girl

  who came over to work with him on a science project for school.

• Dexter and Leo have a conversation about missing their mom and about how they

  will take a bus trip to Dallas the next day. Leo says Dexter is too old for bedtime

  stories but admits that he used to like the same story.

• Dexter, Leo’s younger brother, wakes Leo up to ask whether they’ve packed

  everything and whether they might get lost when they go on a bus trip the next

  day. Leo tells Dexter that nothing will go wrong.

Read the question carefully. Then write your answer in the space

provided below.

Dexter’s lines throughout the play supports the idea that he-

Use at least two details from the poem as evidence to justify your

answer.