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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. In Part One, Other Boys, what boys does the narrator describe falling for?

2. What does the narrator say the other boys are?

3. In Great Expectations, the narrator describes the relationship between the brown girls and who?

4. In Part One, Lunchroom, who is cursing at Trish?

5. In Part One, Musical Chairs, the narrator tells of how the teachers are notorious for what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What takes place in Night?

2. Why might the narrator repeat that the homes the girls live in are neat but hidden, peripheral?

3. In what ways are the brown girls good?

4. How does the narrator describe the community in which the brown girls live?

5. Who are the guests who stay with the brown girls and their families? Why are they there?

6. How does the narrator describe the boys in Brown Boys?

7. How do the girls feel when family members and friends leave their homes for other cities?

8. What takes place in Great Expectations?

9. Why do the brown girls call their teachers terrible names?

10. How does life change for the girls who attend the public arts school?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

By Part Seven, Shadows and A Reckoning, the relationships between the brown girls and white boys and girls have changed dramatically since they first met earlier in Brown Girls. How have their relationships changed? How have the attitudes of the brown girls towards their white partners also changed? What has led to these changes? What does this say about the brown girls? How do you, as the reader, feel about these struggling relationships? What do you believe is the best course of action in these situations? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Struggle is an important theme in Brown Girls. How do the girls struggle? Do they overcome these obstacles? If so, how? If not, why not? How is this a universal theme? How do you personally relate to this theme and the characters and events in this novel?

Essay Topic 3

When some of the brown girls go off to college, they feel significantly out of place. Why do they feel this way? What aspects of college make it feel like a negative experience to be someplace very different from home? Can you relate to this? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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