View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Wilma make Esme sleep in the outhouse?

2. Who are Mira's stepchildren?

3. What work did Wilma do in the 1960s?

4. Who does Wilma send Esme to live with in Chapter 11?

5. What happens to Esme in Chapter 11 that becomes a terrible family secret?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lala like to do on the beach to earn money?

2. What is Tone's idea to try to avoid the consequences of Baby's death?

3. What does Sergeant Beckles think about the death of Baby?

4. Why does Wilma tell Lala the story of the one-armed sister?

5. Whose fault does Adan tell Lala he thinks Peter Whalen's murder is?

6. How does the one-armed sister lose her arm?

7. Why does Wilma send her own daughter Esme away from the house when Esme is a young girl?

8. Why does Lala have to leave the hospital with Baby alone?

9. Why does Mira repeatedly buy raisins at the store following Peter's death?

10. How does the hospital staff treat Lala when she has her baby there?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does Tone feel partially responsible for Baby's death? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

How does Jones describe the evolution of Adan's character from a troubled child to a brutal murderer? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Why is it so important to Lala, Wilma, and Adan to have a large and lavish funeral for Baby, and what does this preference indicate about Barbadian culture? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 621 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample