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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What adverb is used to indicate the manner in which Sykes pushes Delia when he wants her to see the rattlesnake he has brought home?
(a) Knowingly.
(b) Cunningly.
(c) Smartly.
(d) Laughingly.

2. When Sykes refuses to take the snake away and says that he does not have to do anything besides take a particular action, what action does he say he must do?
(a) Die.
(b) Scream.
(c) Laugh.
(d) Kneel.

3. What item does Sykes NOT buy from Joe Clarke's store during his visit there?
(a) Ground-peas.
(b) Barley.
(c) Gum.
(d) Strawberry soda.

4. What does Old Man Anderson suggest that the men do to Sykes and Bertha in Lake Howell swamp?
(a) Whip them.
(b) Bury them up to their necks.
(c) Imprison them there.
(d) Drown them.

5. When the snake starts to rattle incessantly inside its soap box, movements in what two locations cause him to rattle?
(a) The kitchen and the yard.
(b) The stairs and the porch.
(c) The yard and the stairs.
(d) The bedroom and the kitchen.

6. When Delia confronts Sykes at the dinner table about removing the snake, what two behaviors of his does she say she has put up with for many years?
(a) Starving her and beating her.
(b) Starving her and yelling at her.
(c) Hating her and beating her.
(d) Ignoring her and being unfaithful to her.

7. What skill does Sykes learn from a Northern white woman?
(a) How to drive a car.
(b) How to run a store.
(c) How to read.
(d) How to raise chickens.

8. Who drives past the store just when Sykes is ordering food for Bertha at the store?
(a) Delia.
(b) Joe Clarke's daughter.
(c) Elijah's wife.
(d) Sykes's former mistress.

9. What simile does the narrator use to describe the snake's fangs curving into the covering of its soap box?
(a) Scimitars.
(b) Needles.
(c) Door latches.
(d) String bows.

10. What does Delia do at the kitchen table just before she stands up and tells Sykes that she hates him?
(a) She pushes her plate away.
(b) She throws her cup against the wall.
(c) She clears the table.
(d) She yanks on the tablecloth.

11. To what town does Sykes often take Bertha so they can participate in stomps?
(a) Deer Lake.
(b) Winter Park.
(c) Orlando.
(d) Apalachicola.

12. What kind of silence does the narrator say falls on the porch when Sykes and Bertha arrive at the store?
(a) Judgmental.
(b) Determined.
(c) Hushed.
(d) Awkward.

13. When Delia first sees the soap box Sykes has brought home, next to what object is the soap box sitting?
(a) The garden hose.
(b) The chair.
(c) The stairs.
(d) The washtub.

14. What is NOT one event listed as taking place during the dog days of summer in Eatonville?
(a) Snakes shedding.
(b) Swimming holes drying up.
(c) Leaves browning.
(d) Grass withering.

15. What does the narrator say streams down like a "million hot arrows" (5) during the time when Delia and Sykes are not speaking to one another?
(a) The rays of the sun.
(b) The heat.
(c) The raindrops.
(d) The tense moments.

Short Answer Questions

1. What action does Delia say she had taken so that she could avoid being in close proximity to Sykes?

2. What two deity names does Delia yell out when she first lays eyes on the snake Sykes has brought home?

3. When Sykes tells Delia that it is no use "puttin' on airs makin' out out lak" (6) she is feeling a certain emotion in response to the snake, what is that emotion?

4. What do the men immediately do when Sykes and Bertha arrive at the store when they are about to cut into the watermelon?

5. When the men all grunt in approval in response to Old Man Anderson's suggestion that they kill Sykes, what does the narrator say then melts with the heat?

(see the answer keys)

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