View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What text is used to condemn the actions of the man who used violence to steal a turkey in "The Bone of Contention"?
(a) The Bible.
(b) The dictionary.
(c) The Koran.
(d) The encyclopedia.

2. Which character openly cavorts in the street with a married woman at the beginning of the story "Spunk"?
(a) Joe.
(b) Joel.
(c) Elijah.
(d) Spunk.

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

4. The narrator states that no one in John's community had ever traveled farther than which city?
(a) Jacksonville.
(b) Tupelo.
(c) Arlington.
(d) New Orleans.

5. What does the final line of the story "The Conversion of Sam" reveal?
(a) That Sam eventually became the foreman at the mill.
(b) That Sam never gambled again.
(c) That Stella died later that night.
(d) That Stella and Sam went on to have four children.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which member of the family featured in "Drenched in Light" always does the dishes?

2. The jawbone of what type of animal figures into the storyline of "The Bone of Contention"?

3. How old is Sam when he falls back into his addiction to gambling?

4. For what position does Jim hire Stella when she asks for a job?

5. Which group holds a carnival attended by Isis in the story "Drenched in Light"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Beau Diddely?

2. Discuss the purpose behind Hurston's use of a frame structure to present the story entitled "Magnolia Flower."

3. What does the gate post symbolize within the story entitled "Drenched in Light"?

4. In what way is gambling shown to negatively impact families within the story entitled "The Conversion of Sam"?

5. Describe the ten-year-old protagonist of the story "John Redding Goes to Sea," as he is introduced at the beginning of the story.

6. In what way is Hurston a bit of an anomaly within the literary movement with which she is associated?

7. In what way does the story entitled "A Bit of Harlem" put forth an argument about the need for intersectionality when it comes to the discussion of race?

8. For what reason does John leave the house during a storm in the story entitled "John Redding Goes to Sea"?

9. What is the main setting of the story "The Bone of Contention" and for what reason is the same setting represented within the story "Spunk" and others?

10. According to Genevieve West, what conclusion did scholars come to regarding the story "Muttsy," prior to the discovery of the eight other stories contained within the collection Hitting a Straight a Lick With a Crooked Stick?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,199 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample