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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Reuben suggest might have happened to Zonia's mother?

2. What has Joe Turner come with?

3. What does Bynum say Joe Turner wanted from Loomis?

4. How long was Loomis kept by Joe Turner?

5. Who is the only person Molly says she loves?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the losing of the self in the play.

1) How does Loomis lose himself and his identity in the play? Why can't he reclaim it?

2) What is the significance of a person's Song, as Bynum describes it, and how does losing one's Song equate to losing one's self?

3) How can characters find themselves? Which characters are still lost at the end of the play?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Discuss the role of music throughout the play.

1) What role does the Juba play? What type of music is this? What is its origin and meaning, and why does it make Loomis angry?

2) What role does Jeremy's music play in the story? Why does he carry his guitar with him? What does his music say about his character?

3) What role does the song "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" play in the story? Is it important that Joe Turner's name is embodied in song? Why does the name come to Bynum through a song?

4) How does the Binding Song or Bynum's father's Healing Song relate to the role of music in the play?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 371 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample