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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 Loomis say he's waiting on, when Bynum asks him?

2. Who is Sally?

3. In Bynum's metaphor, what is Mattie?

4. What fine did Jeremy have to pay?

5. How long does Seth say it would take him to teach Bynum to make a pot?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why doesn't Seth like Herald Loomis?

2. What does Bynum describe his father doing that made a fuss?

3. What does Bynum say he sees about Loomis?

4. Describe what it means to "Juba."

5. What does Bertha advise Mattie about Bynum?

6. What is Loomis' reaction to Seth's demand on him?

7. How did Seth and Bertha come to have an empty room when Martha first came to the boardinghouse?

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

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

10. What act does Loomis take to free himself and start anew?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one's responsibility to one's self and to others in the play.

1) What responsibility does Martha have to Herald after he is enslaved? Is she wrong to leave, instead of waiting for him indefinitely?

2) What responsibility does Herald have toward Martha? Does he fulfill his responsibilities?

3) Is it more important in the play to live for one's self, as Molly seems to, or to live for others, as Mattie seems to?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the concept of being trapped in a relationship in the play.

1) Why do men leave women in the play? Why does Jack leave Mattie? Why did Bynum leave his woman?

2) What makes a character stay in a relationship? Is a relationship always a kind of entrapment in the play?

3) Why do women want men to stay in the play? How is Molly's attitude different than Mattie's? Would Molly feel trapped in a relationship?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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