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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. On what night of the week does Delia stay up late in order to get a head start on her work?
(a) Saturday.
(b) Wednesday.
(c) Monday.
(d) Sunday.

2. The bullwhip is described by the narrator as long, round, limp, and what?
(a) Cold.
(b) Studded.
(c) Black.
(d) Heavy.

3. What object does Delia credit with paying for the house she and Sykes live in?
(a) Her mother's diamond ring.
(b) Her sweat.
(c) Her blood.
(d) Her horse.

4. When the narrator states that Delia lies awake thinking about debris cluttering a certain kind of trail, what adjective is used to describe that trail?
(a) Philosophical.
(b) Lonely.
(c) Matrimonial.
(d) Familial.

5. What kind of indifference does the narrator say Delia comes to feel about everything Sykes says or does after she realizes that his evil deeds will revisit him in the end?
(a) Triumphant.
(b) Tremendous.
(c) Uneasy.
(d) Bored.

6. What does Delia do with the clothes after Sykes steps on them?
(a) She takes them outside.
(b) She stands between him and the clothes to protect them.
(c) She gathers them together again.
(d) She throws them at him.

7. What does Delia say Sykes had brought to their marriage?
(a) Violence.
(b) A longing after the flesh.
(c) Lies.
(d) Anger.

8. What does the narrator say that the men on Joe's porch do with the cane-knots on the day Sykes and Bertha come to the store, due to the extreme heat?
(a) They let them dribble over the edge of the porch.
(b) They kick them out of the way.
(c) They pile them in their laps.
(d) They let them be eaten by the dogs.

9. For how long has Delia been doing people's laundry to bring in money?
(a) 7 years.
(b) 15 years.
(c) 20 years.
(d) 10 years.

10. Where does Sykes say he has been when Delia asks him where he has been with her horse and buckboard?
(a) At church.
(b) With Bertha.
(c) He does not say.
(d) At the corner store.

11. Who says he would have married Delia himself if Sykes had not beaten him to it?
(a) Elijah.
(b) Joe.
(c) Walter.
(d) Jim.

12. When one of the men's wives had repelled Sykes's advances, she had told him that Delia worked so hard that she bet everything in the house tasted like sweat and what?
(a) Grime.
(b) Soapsuds.
(c) Mud.
(d) Lye.

13. What does the narrator say that Delia is able to "build...against her husband" (3) after she decides that he will reap what he sows?
(a) A code of silence.
(b) A wall of hatred.
(c) A decadent shroud.
(d) A spiritual earthworks.

14. When Delia goes into the yard to retrieve the washtub, what action does Sykes take inside the house?
(a) He throws the sorted laundry into the backyard.
(b) He kicks her sorted laundry back into one pile.
(c) He pours coffee over her sorted laundry.
(d) He hides her sorted laundry in the closet.

15. What does Delia mean when she says that she will stay in the house until she is "toted out foot foremost"? (2)
(a) Until she dies.
(b) Until the house burns down.
(c) Until she is arrested.
(d) Until she sells the house.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Delia say she had brought to her marriage to Sykes?

2. When the scene shifts to the porch at the corner store for the first time, what month is it?

3. In addition to the adjective black, what other adjective does Delia use to describe Bertha the first time she brings her up to Sykes?

4. What simile does Walter use to describe how pretty Delia had been as a young woman?

5. When Sykes laughs at Delia for being scared of the bullwhip, what physical movement does he make?

(see the answer keys)

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