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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 are the Civic Daughters planning when Joe delivers the cosmetics?

2. Why does Malvonne want to make sure the young black girl's letter gets to the law school?

3. What happens when Dorcas eats candy?

4. What year does Joe and Violet move to the city?

5. What does Joe wipe his tears with?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is the significance of Dorcas's clothespin dolls in Chapter Three?

3. In Chapter Two, what does Joe tell Dorcas that he never tells Violet?

4. In Chapter One, how does the narrator describe Violet Trace?

5. In Chapter Two, recount the surprise that Malvonne finds behind her refrigerator and her response to it.

6. Describe the time Joe sees Dorcas for the very first time.

7. In Chapter Five, how does the author describe Harlem in the springtime?

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

9. In what ways does Alice try to protect Dorcas?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does Violet decide she never wants to have children? What impact does this have on her marriage? How does her desire to have children change throughout the book and why?

Essay Topic 2

The title of the work is "Jazz." Why does Morrison choose such a title for this book? What is the significance of jazz music in this novel?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the significance of Golden Gray in Violet's life. How does it affect her childhood as well as her marriage with Joe?

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