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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. Why does Mira never feel as equal in her father's eyes as his other children are?

2. What logo is on Adan and Lala's door?

3. What does Lala do for money on the beach?

4. What is Wilma's relationship to Lala?

5. What does Wilma tell Esme about what Carson has done to her in Chapter 11?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Lala go out to find Adan in the middle of the night early in Part I?

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

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

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

5. What interrupts the robber in Mira's house in Part I?

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

7. Why does Esme resent Wilma so much in later years?

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

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

10. What lie does Lala tell about where Adan was when Baby "disappeared"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What connections does Jones draw between Mira Whalen's upbringing as the illegitimate mixed-race child of a Black businessman in Barbados and her later marriage to Peter Whalen and her adult life in general? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

How does Jones explain and describe the rapid disintegration of Tone's and Adan's relationship in the latter part of this novel? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

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