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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. How old does Jacqueline Woodson describe herself in the poem "The Beginning"?

2. What Biblical river is referenced in the poem "The Leavers"?

3. Whose wish for a man's head on a platter is described in the poem "Bible Times"?

4. How many children did Grandma Georgiana's mother give birth to?

5. How old was Jacqueline Woodson's father when Jackie was born?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does the author describe her feelings about the Bible and Christianity in "Bible Times"?

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

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

6. How is life in Greenville described in the poem "Ohio Behind Us"?

7. How is the Woodsons' lineage described in "The Woodsons of Ohio"?

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

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

10. How does the author describe the names in her family in "Family Names"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

Discuss South Carolina’s history of Slavery and the “trainings” and oppressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. What do “trainings” refer to? How did the trainings originate? How accurate is Gunnar’s explanation of the social unrest in South Carolina and the emerging Civil Rights Movement?

(see the answer keys)

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