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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 is beat up after their first day at an integrated school?

2. To whom does Betsey try to explain that Bernice is innocent?

3. Who is Greer?

4. After the policemen arrive at her home, who is Jane angry at?

5. What does Bernice reveal to Jane?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Betsey's first day at the "white school."

2. How does Veejay make Betsey feel bad about getting rid of Bernice?

3. Why does Jane feel subordinate in her own home whens he returns?

4. Why is Jane angry with Greer after the policemen show up with Charlie and Allard?

5. How does Jane react to Greer's request to take the children to a demonstration?

6. What does Betsey think about love?

7. What euphemism is used Chapter 2 and why?

8. How does Betsey view black children in comparison to white children?

9. How has Betsey's romance with Eugene progressed in Chapter 11?

10. What does Mrs. Maureen say about segregation, and what do her beliefs represent?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Jane's absence compare to Betsey's running away? What reason do each of them have in doing so? Is one more justified than the other? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The Brown family home is extremely chaotic. How is this represented in the author's work? Analyze the plot of the story as well as Shange's diction, syntax, tone, and point of view and the ways in which they apply to the overall theme of chaos. What effect does chaos have on the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Why does Betsey become the self-proclaimed "Negro Queen of the Veiled Prophet Parade"? What does Betsey mean in doing so? What does it represent in a view of society?

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