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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. Who is found murdered?

2. How many acres of land does Dick's farm have?

3. What is the greatest satisfaction that Mary knows?

4. Who are the Afrikaners?

5. What does Mary do for most of the day?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Mary change Dick's house? How does Dick feel about this?

2. What spoiled Mary's happiness with her single life?

3. How does Mary feel after Dick shows her around the house?

4. How do the man's remarks at the station change Mary's perception of Dick?

5. How do people react to the newspaper article about the murder?

6. What were the two happy times during Mary's childhood?

7. How does Dick feel now that Mary is at the farm?

8. Describe the state of Dick and Mary's romantic relationship.

9. What new types of farming excite Dick?

10. When and why was Mary so fortunate? How did she feel about her good fortune?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that describes the parenting done by characters in the novel and how it influences them and other characters. Examples include Mary's bad parents damaging her ability to relate to others, or Charlie Slatter's jealousy towards the privileges of his children.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay providing the historical context for THE GRASS IS SINGING by Doris Lessing. Be sure to address:

1) Evidence from the text that provides the time setting for the novel.

2) Major historical events of the novel's time period.

3) How the attitudes and ideals of white culture, especially in regards to other races, have changed since the time period of the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that serves as a plea for racial tolerance. Be sure to draw upon other major essays and papers on racial tolerance, bringing together a collection of ideas along with your own points into a coherent and compelling paper.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 845 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample