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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did August's father die?
(a) Heart attack.
(b) Natural causes.
(c) Lung cancer.
(d) Liver disease.

2. As indicated in Chapter 4, what did August say her father had to do, because they had to live without August's mother?
(a) August's father was "as unsure as we were about what step to take next" (46).
(b) August's father became an "angry and resentful man...no clue what to do" (46).
(c) August's father treated his children "like they were the least important people on the planet" (47).
(d) August's father tried to "be a mother, but it just wasn't the same" (45).

3. What was one song August listened to as she had her hair braided?
(a) "Amazing Grace."
(b) "Keep on Livin'."
(c) "The Great Girl."
(d) "The Blues Are No Good."

4. What does the narrator claim is the most tragic thing about life (1)?
(a) The memory.
(b) The loss of a mother.
(c) The end of childhood.
(d) The moment.

5. Toward the end of Chapter 7, what did August want to say to her mother about trusting women?
(a) "Mama, you are stupid for leaving us and forcing me to trust only my friends to listen to me" (75).
(b) "You were right, Mama. These girls were not to be trusted. I do need to keep them at arms' length" (76).
(c) "Mama, these girls are beautiful. Why did you lie to me" (78)?
(d) "You were wrong, Mama. Look at us hugging. Look at us laughing. Look how we begin and end each other" (75).

Short Answer Questions

1. As referenced in Chapter 1, when August was 15, where did her father send her for the summer?

2. How much older is August than her brother?

3. What did the girls say to boys who called August, Sylvia, Gigi, and Angela's names in Chapter 7?

4. What magazine reminded August that her family was not as poor as others?

5. What is the name of the area where August and her family lived before moving to Brooklyn?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does August say in Chapter 4, "We didn't understand the kind of poverty we lived in" (42)?

2. How did drug abuse factor into August's childhood?

3. What does August say about the music of her childhood in Chapter 1?

4. In what ways did August and her friends protect themselves from the streets when they were adolescents?

5. From what perspective and tense is the story related? How is the novel framed?

6. What did Angela want to be when she grew up? Why?

7. What are the circumstances of August's brother in the most-recent timeline in the novel?

8. What led to August's father taking his children to Brooklyn?

9. Why did August think that her mother would come to her in Brooklyn while growing up?

10. What about Angela reminded August of her mother? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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