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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. Who tells Mama, "Now you look like a Boatwright"?

2. What season of the year does Mama marry Glen?

3. In Chapter 7, who does Mama describe as "just bad all the way through"?

4. What is the one thing that saves Glen from the Boatwrights' absolute contempt?

5. In Chapter 3, when people talk about Glen, what two things do they mention most often?

Short Essay Questions

1. Bone sees two different sides of Glen. Describe them.

2. Why does the world that comes over the radio seem far away to Bone in Chapter 2?

3. After Glen beats Bone with a belt for the first time, Mama asks Bone what she did. Why doesn't Bone tell her?

4. Do you think that Mama cares if people think she burned down the courthouse?

5. Describe Bone at age 10.

6. Describe Sheriff Cole. Does he really care what happens to Bone?

7. How does Aunt Raylene take care of Bone in the hospital?

8. Describe the regrets that Bone has after Ruth dies.

9. Bone and her family begin moving frequently in Chapter 5, never staying in one place very long. Why is this?

10. Bone finally sees a smile in Glen's eyes before he molests her, but it vanishes afterwards. Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Bone asks her mother if she looks like her father who she doesn't have contact with. Mama refuses to answer. According to Bone, what she really wants from her mother is her story, "the place where she had made herself different from all her brothers and sisters and shut her mouth on her life." Explain what Bone means by this statement.

Essay Topic 2

Read the quote by James Baldwin at the beginning of the book. Discuss in detail how this applies to "Bastard Out of Carolina."

Essay Topic 3

Granny is a frequent presence early in the book, but she is hardly heard from in the last half of the book. Why do you believe the author chooses to do this? What is Granny's purpose in the book?

(see the answer keys)

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