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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. With which writer did Zora Neale Hurston have a falling-out, according to the text's introduction?
(a) Ernest Hemingway.
(b) Langston Hughes.
(c) James Baldwin.
(d) Gertrude Stein.

2. The narrator reveals that the people in Sam's community view him as a what?
(a) A psychologist.
(b) A fool.
(c) A gossip.
(d) A comedian.

3. The white woman in the company of Isis at the story's end exclaims aloud that Isis is what emotion "itself," before describing her as "Drenched in Light" (83)?
(a) Envy.
(b) Anger.
(c) Joy.
(d) Purity.

4. Which type of wood is NOT mentioned when Isis watches her grandmother gathering a collection of switches?
(a) Cherry.
(b) Peach.
(c) Apple.
(d) Guana.

5. How old is Sam when he falls back into his addiction to gambling?
(a) 31.
(b) 19.
(c) 25.
(d) 21.

6. Which member of the family featured in "Drenched in Light" always does the dishes?
(a) Grandma.
(b) Joel.
(c) Isis.
(d) Papa.

7. What is the last name of Isis, the protagonist of the story "Drenched in Light"?
(a) Watts.
(b) Potts.
(c) Kanty.
(d) Johnson.

8. Who orders Isis to get down from the gate post and rake the yard?
(a) Grandma Watts.
(b) Grandma Jones.
(c) Grandma Potts.
(d) Grandma George.

9. Near the end of the story "Magnolia Flower," it is stated that John and Magnolia Flower had gotten married how many years before?
(a) 47.
(b) 60.
(c) 25.
(d) 32.

10. The jawbone of what type of animal figures into the storyline of "The Bone of Contention"?
(a) A dog.
(b) A mule.
(c) A horse.
(d) A donkey.

11. Of what cause did Beau officially die, though it is implied that the local conjure man had a hand in it?
(a) Asphyxiation.
(b) Stroke.
(c) Heart failure.
(d) Drowning.

12. How old is John at the beginning of the story entitled "John Redding Goes to Sea"?
(a) 8.
(b) 16.
(c) 10.
(d) 14.

13. What adjective does Isis's grandmother apply to Isis while warning her to stop sitting atop the gate post?
(a) Adult.
(b) Old.
(c) Tomboyish.
(d) Womanish.

14. Every story in the collection Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick belongs to which literary movement?
(a) Romanticism.
(b) Transcendentalism.
(c) The Harlem Renaissance.
(d) Surrealism.

15. Before the discovery of a number of stories focused on urban environments, how many such stories by Zora Neale Hurston were previously thought to exist?
(a) 1.
(b) 5.
(c) 3.
(d) 0.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Mr. Bronner, in relation to Sam within the story "The Conversion of Sam"?

2. In what way is Alfred related to John?

3. The opening and closing frames of the story "Magnolia Flower" consist of conversations between which two bodies of water?

4. What object belonging to her grandmother does Isis use as a festive outfit for dancing at the carnival?

5. What is the last name of the man named Beau who mistreats his woman in the story called "Black Death"?

(see the answer keys)

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