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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 street did Mary Anne's parents live on in South Carolina?

2. What is Grace Woodson's relationship to Jacqueline?

3. Where had Mary Anne's sister recently moved in the poem "Ohio Behind Us"?

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

5. What does the poet describe topping the letter "J" with in "The Beginning"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How is "Daywork" described in the poem with the same name? Who took on daywork to support Jackie and her siblings when they were growing up?

4. How does the author describe her ancestry in "February 12, 1963"?

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

6. Who is the focus of the poem "Football Dreams"? What is related in this narrative?

7. How is the unfolding Civil Rights Movement described in the poem "South Carolina at War"?

8. What does the author describe calling her grandfather in "Gunnar's Children"? How does she describe her feelings for her grandfather?

9. How does the author establish the social and political atmosphere into which she was born in "Second Daughter’s Second Day on Earth"?

10. How does the author describe her grandmother's rules in "The Right Way to Speak"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the comparisons in the book of the North and South. Where was Jacqueline Woodson born? Where did she spend her summers growing up? What place in Jackie's life felt the most like "home" to her? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the themes of pride, prejudice, and the American Dream in Brown Girl Dreaming. How are these themes embodied by Georgiana, Gunnar, Mary Anne, and Jackie? What symbolism and imagery in the narrative relates to these themes?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and analyze the characterizations of Grandma Georgiana and Grandpa Gunnar in the memoir. How would you describe Jackie’s relationship with her maternal grandparents? Where did Gunnar work?

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