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

2. What title does the narrator ascribe to Delia's job of doing other people's laundry?

3. Where does Delia say Sykes would disappear to with all of his wages during the first year of their marriage?

4. When Sykes leaves and Delia feels certain that he will not be home until a certain time, when is that time?

5. On what day of the week does Delia collect and deliver clothes using her pony and buckboard?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of Delia's comment that she does not want to fight with Sykes because she has just come back from church services?

2. Before Delia's decision to stand up to Sykes by raising the iron skillet in a defensive pose, how does she react to his verbal abuse?

3. What is the significance of Joe Clarke's pronouncement that some men treat women like pieces of sugar-cane?

4. What is meant by the piece of narration that states, "It was plain that the breaches must remain agape" (6)?

5. How is foreshadowing incorporated into the very first encounter between Delia and Sykes?

6. How is the reader made aware that Delia used to love Sykes and still could if he would only change his behavior?

7. Describe the symbolism of the iron skillet.

8. What does Sykes's bullwhip symbolize within the story?

9. What is the reason for the listlessness of the men who gather on Joe Clarke's porch?

10. At what point does the author show the first change in Delia's character and how does she portray this change?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is signified by Delia's worry that Sykes is out with her horse and carriage at the start of the story and how does her worry relate to the themes inherent in the story?

Essay Topic 2

Perform a Marxist criticism of the short story Sweat.

Essay Topic 3

What is the significance of the short story's title and how does it relate to the themes present within the story's narrative?

(see the answer keys)

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