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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What writing tense does the author use to tell Ellen's story?
(a) Past tense.
(b) Past and the present tense.
(c) Future tense.
(d) Present tense.

2. How does Ellen's father die?
(a) Murder.
(b) Natural Causes.
(c) Alcoholism.
(d) Suicide.

3. Who does Ellen stop speaking to?
(a) Her aunt.
(b) Trixie.
(c) Starletta.
(d) Her father.

4. Which character gives Ellen the outfit to wear to the funeral?
(a) Her mother.
(b) Her father.
(c) Dora.
(d) Aunt Nadine.

5. What does Ellen use reading for?
(a) A way to make people jealous.
(b) To gain knowledge.
(c) To test her friends.
(d) An escape from her past life.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Ellen wear her coat to bed?

2. What does Ellen's friend's family sometimes eat?

3. How long is Ellen's father gone the day after the funeral?

4. How long does Ellen's new roommate let her stay when Ellen runs away from her father's home?

5. What activity has become an escape for Ellen?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 2, how does Ellen hint at favoritism towards her mother's family?

2. In what way does Ellen use reading?

3. How is Ellen's former life and her new life an example of dualism?

4. At the funeral, why does Ellen avoid looking at her mother's grave?

5. What gifts does Ellen buy herself for Christmas?

6. How is Ellen's obsessive side shown in Chapter 6?

7. How can a reader tell that Ellen may harbor some prejudices toward African American people?

8. In what ways does Ellen justify not telling anyone about the circumstances of her mother's death?

9. How does the fact that Ellen is concerned with snakes in her new life hint at how she feels about the members of her family?

10. In Chapter 6, how does Ellen's prejudiced nature show up?

(see the answer keys)

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