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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What action do Isis and her brother Joel plan to do to their maternal grandmother before she wakes up and stops them?
(a) Feed her.
(b) Shave her whiskers.
(c) Bathe her.
(d) Paint her.

2. Sam does NOT decide to acquire which item when he becomes determined to win Stella's favor?
(a) A shave.
(b) A haircut.
(c) A new suit.
(d) A car.

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

4. Which character teases Joe about his philandering wife before being chastised by other men in the story "Spunk"?
(a) Spunk.
(b) Walter.
(c) Elijah.
(d) Jordan.

5. What sort of the malady does the boy at the center of the story "A Bit of Harlem" have?
(a) Scurvy.
(b) A hunchback.
(c) Asthma.
(d) Epilepsy.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the story entitled "The Conversion of Sam," what type of establishment does Jim own with his wife Mattie?

2. Who orders Isis to get down from the gate post and rake the yard?

3. The narrator states that no one in John's community had ever traveled farther than which city?

4. Which character ultimately decides to allow John's body to float down the river once it is obvious that he is dead?

5. When John begs for the chance to travel for a number of years, how many years does he mention?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the young disabled man featured in "A Bit of Harlem" say his teacher had told him about heaven? Why is this comment significant?

2. How does Joe Kanty meet his end in the story entitled "Spunk"?

3. What does Spunk's Stetson hat represent within the story entitled "Spunk"?

4. In what way do Alfred and Matty act as foils to one another within the story "John Redding Goes to Sea"?

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

6. In what way does Hurston depict the difference between the two generations depicted in "Magnolia Flower"?

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

8. 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?

9. Who is Beau Diddely?

10. What contrast between the white culture and the black culture does Hurston highlight within the opening of "Black Death"?

(see the answer keys)

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