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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. What breakfast does the poet describe eating in "Bible Times"?

2. What was William J. Woodson's relationship to Jacqueline?

3. Where was Jacqueline's ancestor Thomas Woodson from?

4. What health problem did the boy from up the road suffer from in "The Almost Friends"?

5. What did Georgina tell her grandchildren never to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. What story is related from Grandma Georgiana's perspective in "Other People’s Memory"?

2. How is Odell described in the poem "Uncle Odell"? Who was named for Odell?

3. What conflict is described in the poem "A Girl Named Jack"?

4. How are the poet's parents described in "Second Daughter’s Second Day on Earth"?

5. What is the symbolic image that concludes the poem "Second Daughter’s Second Day on Earth"? What is symbolized in this imagery?

6. How is the house described in "The Ghosts of the Nelsonville House"? Where is Nelsonville?

7. How does the author describe her siblings in the poems "The Reader" and "Hope" from Part 1?

8. Into what genres does Brown Girl Dreaming fall? How are these genres defined?

9. What was Gunnar Irby's profession? What struggles did he face in his job?

10. What event is described in the poem "The Candy Lady"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Brown Girl Dreaming is a memoir in verse. Define these terms (memoir and verse), and discuss how they apply to the narrative. Is the book fictional or nonfictional? Why do you think the author chose to relate her story through verse? How does this choice affect the reader?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and discuss the imagery and symbolism in the final poems of Part 1. Why did Jackie and her family travel at night on the bus from South Carolina to Ohio? How does the author describe the river they follow on their journey? What do you think the river represents symbolically? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the millenarian restorationist Christian denomination known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. When were the Jehovah’s Witnesses originated? What are their belief systems? How do they differ from other Christian denominations? What influences did Jackie's faith have on her as a child?

(see the answer keys)

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