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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 can't Bynum tell Selig the meaning of life?

2. What does Reuben say happened to his best friend?

3. Where does Bynum say he gets his name?

4. Where did Jeremy win his dollar?

5. What aspect of Mattie's looks does Jeremy comment on favorably?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jeremy say happened to cause him to be arrested?

2. What is Seth's attitude to the black men coming to the city to find work and freedom?

3. Describe Bynum's meeting with the shiny man.

4. What reason does Mattie give Loomis for hoping Loomis finds his wife?

5. What things does Bynum say a woman taught Jeremy?

6. What problem does Seth foresee for Jeremy, and what does Seth suggest as a solution?

7. What is Molly's reaction to the death of Mattie's two babies?

8. What does Seth say to Loomis, when Loomis first enters in Act 2, Scene 2?

9. How did Selig get in the people-finding business?

10. What reason does Bynum give for why he doesn't think Herald Loomis is a gambler?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Trauma is the enduring effects of an injury, such as slavery, which leaves a generations-long mark on African-Americans. Discuss trauma in the play.

1) How has Herald Loomis' trauma from being enslaved affected him and his life? Do any of the other characters affected a similar trauma?

2) How do the cultural repercussions of slavery affect Jeremy?

3) How do the cultural repercussions of slavery affect the women in the play and their relationships with men?

4) How is trauma from Herald Loomis' experience passed down to Zonia?

Essay Topic 2

Disuss the losing of others in the play.

1) Why do characters need each other and find themselves bound together in the play?

2) Why do characters, such as Jack and Martha, leave others in the play? What is the significance to the leaver, and what is the significance to the one who is left?

3) Once a person in the play has lost another, is it possible to reclaim that lost person? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the importance of financial independence to characters in the story.

1) Seth wants to gain financial independence by starting his own business. What stops him from achieving his goal? Why is this an important goal for him?

2) Molly doesn't want to be "bought." She wants to be independent, while not working. What kind of independence does she achieve? How does money play into her independence?

3) Why does Mattie continue to work while she is with Jeremy? Does her working keep them separate?

(see the answer keys)

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