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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. How old is Eula when she and Caroletta first become intimate?

2. What does the narrator learn not to ask her mother about by the time she is six in “Peach Cobbler”?

3. What does Olivia say regarding the pastor after she returns home for her final tutoring session in “Peach Cobbler”?

4. What does the girl in “Peach Cobbler” always have for dinner at her house?

5. Why does Eula cancel her 31st birthday plans with Caroletta?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the narrator’s mother refuse to let her go to Latasha’s sleepover in “Peach Cobbler”?

2. How long have Eula and Caroletta been meeting at a hotel to celebrate New Year’s Eve?

3. What questions does Olivia’s mother ask her when she returns from her first tutoring session at the Neely’s house in “Peach Cobbler”?

4. What happens in the daughter’s fantasy in which she feeds the pastor her homemade peach cobbler?

5. What do the woman and man in “Not-Daniel” have in common?

6. Briefly describe each of the letter writer’s sisters Kimba, Renee, and Tasheta.

7. What event compelled the writer to write to her sister Jackie in “Dear Sister”?

8. What are some of the things Leelee says she misses about living down south?

9. What impression did Olivia get of Marilyn the first time she went over to tutor Trevor in “Peach Cobbler”?

10. In “Peach Cobbler,” what was on the piece of paper the narrator’s mother handed her after the pastor left one day and why was it there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several of the short stories in the secret lives of short church ladies include the perspective of the other woman in an affair. Write an essay exploring test theme from the perspective of the other woman in “Peach Cobbler,“ “Instructions for Married Christian Husbands,” and “Not-Daniel.”

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing the course of Lyra and Eric’s relationship in “How to Make Love to a Physicist.” How does this relationship develop over the course of the story? What changes does each character experience in order to make the relationship go in the direction it does?

Essay Topic 3

In “Not-Daniel” and in “Instructions for Married Christian Husbands,” the narrators remain unnamed throughout the stories. Write an essay exploring the reason why Philyaw may have chosen to leave out the name of this these characters.

(see the answer keys)

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