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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. What does Avey think as she surveys her body?

2. What does Avey think when she sees some crabs at play?

3. What medicine does Lebert think Avey desperately needs?

4. What drink does Lebert serve Avey?

5. To which tribe do Rosalie and Lebert tell Avey that she must belong?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Avey doing in Chapter 4 at the same time she was supposed to be flying back to America?

2. What is the sermon that Avey recalls hearing as a little girl?

3. What does Avey mean when she says that her life is a tabula rasa?

4. What was occurring during all those years that Avey was living in denial about her true self?

5. Describe Avey's behavior on the beach.

6. What does Avey sense as she awakens in the hotel room after her night of being emotionally exhausted?

7. How does Avey compare this boat trip, and the old women sitting beside her, to her childhood days in church?

8. What happens to Avey when she finally lets her true nature come to the forefront as she stands on the hotel room balcony?

9. Avey now longs for her husband "Jay" who "died" when Jerome came to the forefront and made them an affluent family. To what holiday situation does Avey compare this longing?

10. How does Avey meet Lebert Joseph?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the role of religion and spirituality in Avey's life. What had it meant to her as a child? How were the religion lessons with her father different from the spiritual lessons with Great Aunt Cuney? Why were each of them important to Avey's development? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Marshall is a master at dramatic devices. Choose an example of symbolism, metaphor, and irony, briefly describe them and identify the technique which they embody.

Essay Topic 3

Praisesong for the Widow is set in the 1970s during the time of the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement in America. What impact does this factor have on the author? What impact does this factor have on any of the other characters? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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