View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Dee's companion end up asking the family to call him?

2. What does Ms. Johnson ask Maggie to bring her at the end of the story?

3. Who stands under a gum tree and observes from a safe distance while tragedy strikes the old Johnson house a decade earlier?

4. Who takes Polaroids of the Johnson family reunion?

5. Who is Dee's father?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain how Ms. Johnson looks in real life and how her actual appearance differs from how she appears in her dreams.

2. Why doesn't Dee like the house in which her family lives?

3. What is Aunt Dicie/Big Dee's role in "Everyday Use?"

4. What religion is Ms. Johnson in "Everyday Use" and what does her religion indicate about her character?

5. Which character in "Everyday Use" is a foil character and what helps identify that character as a foil character?

6. What is the significance of the title of "Everyday Use?"

7. Why does Ms. Johnson agree to call Dee by the African name Wangero after reminding Dee of the family heritage behind her birth name?

8. What do Dee's light skin and her white heel symbolize?

9. Why doesn't Dee think Maggie deserves their mother's two hand-stitched quilts?

10. What is Ms. Johnson's relationship with her daughter Maggie like?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the references to church and religion in "Everyday Use." Give at least three examples of how religion is used in the text. What do you think Alice Walker is saying about the influence of religion on southern Black culture and on African American culture in general?

Essay Topic 2

Dee changes her name to Wangero in "Everyday Use." Discuss this name change citing examples from the text to support your arguments.

Part I: Discuss what Dee's name change indicates about her character.

Part II: Discuss what Dee's name change indicates about the era in which she lives.

Part III: Discuss what Dee's name change illustrates about her relationship with her family.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the character of Hakim-a-barber and how he illustrates Black Muslim culture in the story. What do you think Alice Walker is saying about Black Muslims through him? Cite examples from the text to support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,115 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample