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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 Selig say he can't find Bynum's "shiny man"?

2. Where does Molly go after paying Seth for a week's board and lodging?

3. Where did Jeremy win his dollar?

4. Who questions Loomis about his vision?

5. Why does Jeremy tell Mattie she should move in with him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Bertha advise Mattie about Bynum?

2. What state is Bynum in immediately after dinner and before the Juba?

3. Describe what Bynum tells Jeremy about touching.

4. What is Seth's opinion of Bynum's behavior with Loomis after the Juba?

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

6. What is Loomis' reaction to walking in on the Juba?

7. How did Loomis come to be reunited with his daughter but separated from his wife?

8. Why does Jeremy not want to enter a guitar-playing contest?

9. Describe Bertha's attitude toward Herald Loomis.

10. What does Mattie tell Loomis when he says he needs to find a starting place?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss loneliness in the play.

1) Mattie is lonely and starts a relationship with Jeremy to combat loneliness. Why does she agree to this relationship? Why can't she overcome her loneliness?

2) How does Loomis deal with being alone? How does Bynum deal with being alone?

3) Does a society of friends or companions fulfill loneliness in the play, or can only a love relationship fulfill loneliness? What role does spirituality play in fulfilling loneliness?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss what children gain from their parents in the play.

1) Seth learned metalworking from his father, and many of the characters learned trades from their parents. What significance does this have in the story? Is a person fated or destined to a certain life based on their parents?

2) What significance is there to Selig's story of his great-grandfather captaining slave ships and his father retrieving slaves for plantation owners? What about Bynum's inheritance of spiritual power from his father the healer?

3) What does Zonia gain from her father and from her mother? What does she inherit from them?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the play, there are forces that bind people and forces that tear people apart. Discuss these forces.

1) What types of things bind people to each other and to places and lives in the play? Are these things good or bad, or are some good and some bad? How do negative binding forces (like the chains of slavery) affect the other things that bind people together or to elements of their lives?

2) What types of things tear people apart in the play? Are these things good or bad, or are some good and some bad? What role might tearing apart have in building identity?

(see the answer keys)

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