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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 many Johnson women are Dee?

2. When boys and girls hang around Dee in her youth, what does she do to entertain them?

3. In what point of view is "Everyday Use" told?

4. How is the weather when Dee comes to visit her family?

5. What has Ms. Johnson done to her yard at the beginning of the story?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to the Johnsons' previous home and how has this tragedy affected the family?

2. When Ms. Johnson gives Grandma Dee's hand-stitched quilts to Maggie, how does each Johnson sister in "Everyday Use" react?

3. What is the history behind Dee's birth name?

4. Describe Dee's relationship with Jimmy T and what it indicates about her.

5. In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," who is the antagonist of the story and what identifies that character as the antagonist?

6. Why does Ms. Johnson prefer that the hand-stitched quilts go to Maggie instead of Dee?

7. In what era is "Everyday Use" set and how does this time period affect the story?

8. What is the significance of the sunglasses Dee wears at the end of the story and the fact that they hide most of her face?

9. Why are the hairstyles of Hakim-a-barber and Dee/Wangero described in such detail in the story while Maggie and Ms. Johnson's hairstyles are not described?

10. Why does Dee change her name to Wangero in "Everyday Use?"

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ms. Johnson is the narrator of "Everyday Use." Do you think she is the most appropriate narrator for this story? Why or why not? Discuss her effectiveness as narrator and how the story would change if Dee or Maggie narrated it instead. Cite examples from the text to support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Alice Walker writes "Everyday Use" in the first person point of view. Discuss why you think the author selected the first person viewpoint. Also discuss whether or not you think first person is an effective viewpoint for this story and why or why not. Cite examples from the text to support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

"Everyday Use" was published in 1973 and the characters have lived through the growth of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Discuss how the geographical, chronological and cultural settings affect the story and how the characters and story might differ if Alice Walker had set it in the north or during the antebellum era instead. Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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