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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. When boys and girls hang around Dee in her youth, what does she do to entertain them?
2. How does the man who emerges from the car with Dee wear his hair?
3. In Ms. Johnson's dreams, on what television program are she and Dee brought together?
4. What is the first thing out of the car upon Dee's arrival that identifies Dee to Ms. Johnson?
5. What kind of shoes is Dee wearing for her reunion with her mother and sister?
Short Essay Questions
1. What is the significance of the title of "Everyday Use?"
2. Is there any significance to the fact that neither Ms. Johnson's marital state nor Dee's are revealed in "Everyday Use?"
3. Alice Walker never names the narrator of this story. The reader is told only that she is a member of the Johnson family. What might the author of "Everyday Use" have intended to convey about the character of Ms. Johnson by not naming her?
4. Are the Johnsons in "Everyday Use" typical or atypical for rural southern Black families living in the era in which the story is set?
5. Explain the difference in what Dee wants to use her mother's quilts and the way Maggie wants to use the quilts.
6. What do the Johnson family heirlooms like the butter churn and patchwork quilts indicate about the Johnson family and about southern Black culture?
7. 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?
8. What do Dee's light skin and her white heel symbolize?
9. How do African Americans change from the days of Ms. Johnson's youth in the 1920s to the era of the 1960s in which the story "Everyday People" is set?
10. Describe Dee's relationship with Jimmy T and what it indicates about her.
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Education is a theme in "Everyday Use." Discuss how Alice Walker depicts this theme and what you think she is saying about education in the story. Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
Essay Topic 2
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 3
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.
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This section contains 1,281 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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