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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 does Violet see in Dorcas's picture?

2. What does Violet regret when she turns forty?

3. What does Joe buy Dorcas the first day they meet?

4. What does Violet do after she runs from the funeral home?

5. How is Alice Manfred related to Dorcas?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator describe the scene in which Violet attacks Dorcas's body?

2. Describe the death of Dorcas's mother.

3. Why do Joe and Violet fall into such deep debt in Chapter Five?

4. Describe the relationship between Violet and Alice as presented in Chapter Three.

5. Describe the first time Joe officially meets Dorcas.

6. How does the narrator describe the way Joe and Violet meet in Chapter Four?

7. In Chapter Five, what does Joe think of when he imagines Dorcas?

8. Describe Joe's recollection of the train ride to Maryland in Chapter Two.

9. What is the story the narrator gives behind Joe's last name?

10. In Chapter Two, what reason does the narrator give for Joe killing Dorcas?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is Violet described in the initial portion of the novel? Do you think this is a fair description of Violet's character? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The mothers of Violet, Joe, and Dorcas die tragically, abandon their children, or kill themselves. Why do you think Morrison includes this similarity between these three characters? What does the loss of one's mother symbolize? Do you think it effectively unites the characters, or does it pull them apart?

Essay Topic 3

What impact do you think Alice Manfred has on Dorcas? Do you think Dorcas is the same sort of person id she is not being raised by Alice? Why or why not?

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