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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. Who does Wining Boy reveal he helped bail out of jail?

2. Lymon wants to go to what city, hoping for better treatment from white people?

3. What does Boy Willie hope to buy from Sutter?

4. What does Boy Willie tell Wining Boy that he wants to purchase?

5. Where does Berniece bring her daughter at the end of the first act, in the first scene?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Berniece ask Avery to do after Maretha has seen Sutter's ghost, and how does Avery respond?

2. How does Berniece respond when she happens upon Boy Willie and Grace?

3. How did Avery get the idea to switch his profession to preacher?

4. What happens when Wining Boy goes to the city to pawn his belongings?

5. When Boy Willie and Lymon realize that they cannot move the piano, how do they respond?

6. What happens when Doaker emerges to see Boy Willie and Lymon attempting to move the piano?

7. How does Berniece find out that Boy Willie intends to remove the piano that day, and how does she respond?

8. Why did Berneice stop playing the piano as a child?

9. After a long day selling watermelons and trying to pawn clothing, how do the men in the Charles family settle down to relax?

10. What events have prompted Doaker to believe that Berniece should sell the piano as soon as possible?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The idea of supernatural beings within the Charles home is particularly strong in relation to Sutter's ghost.

Part 1. Give three examples of moments in which one or more members of the Charles family feels the presence of Sutter's spirit in their home.

Part 2. Briefly explain the reasons suggested for Sutter's stalking of the Charles family, and particularly, his spirit's apparent presence within the piano.

Part 3. Explain the various ways that members of the Charles family attempt to get rid of Sutter's spirit.

Essay Topic 2

This history of slavery within the Charles family repeats itself throughout the text. Briefly explain the ways that slavery has affected the Charles family in the past, the present, and the future?

Essay Topic 3

The women in this play are portrayed as weak in comparison to the men in the play. Choose one female character in the play and give two examples of the ways that they are overpowered by the male characters. Then, discuss the female character's reaction to the overpowering male characters.

(see the answer keys)

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