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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. What grade was SInclair in when her father went to Japan?

2. After Sinclair and her siblings started wearing dreadlocks, what would Esther put on their hair?

3. How many children did Esther have in the four years they lived at White House?

4. What type of church did Grandmother Pauline attend?

5. How old were Sinclair and her siblings when they smoked their first spliff?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the Sinclairs move in Chapter 11?

2. When did Howie go to the United States, and what did he do there?

3. Why did the children's hair start falling out in Chapter 6, and how was the condition cured?

4. What did it mean that Howard wanted Sinclair to be the perfect daughter?

5. How did Sinclair learn that a girl named Monique did not want to be her friend?

6. Why did Howard not want his children to visit their grandmother Pauline?

7. How did life change for Sinclair and her siblings after her father lost his recording contract?

8. What was Miss Clarke's advice when Sinclair told her about a sixth-grade girl who kept following Sinclair?

9. What happened to Howie that made him decide to fully embrace Rastafari?

10. What was S.P.I.C.?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sinclair struggled to fit in at St. James College. How and why did Sinclair struggle to fit in at St. James College?

Essay Topic 2

Imagery is a literary device authors use to describe people in a narrative and the world they inhabit. Imagery involves using the five senses to describe individuals, places, and things. How did Sinclair use imagery to help readers imagine the world where individuals live in How to Say Babylon?

Essay Topic 3

Metaphors and similes are figures of speech that are used to make comparisons between things. Metaphors seem to imply an equal comparison, while similes seem to imply a similarity between two things. Did Sinclair use more metaphors or similes in How to Say Babylon? How did the use of metaphors or similes help readers comprehend concepts or imagine people and situations?

(see the answer keys)

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