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

Short Answer Questions

1. What explanation does Bertha give for Loomis' behavior?

2. What does Bertha give Mr. Loomis for breakfast?

3. What does Mattie give to Zonia?

4. What does Seth say Joe Turner wanted from Loomis?

5. Where does Bynum say Jeremy's gone at the beginning of Act 2, Scene 1?

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

Discuss enslavement in the play.

1) What different types of enslavement are there in the play? How is Bynum's binding an enslavement? Is being in a relationship enslaving? Is religion enslaving?

2) In what ways is Loomis still enslaved by his seven years' labor for Joe Turner? What long-term effects does enslavement have on the characters?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss religion in the play.

1) What is the significance of the washing in blood that appears both in Bynum's vision and in the end of the play? What religious significance does it have?

2) Compare the Christian religion of the characters to Bynum's spiritualism. What parallels do they have? How are they different? Where does each arise from?

3) Why does Loomis rail against religion? What significance is there to the fact that Martha followed her church away from Loomis?

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This section contains 343 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample