View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Maureen run for at the end of the book?

2. What are the chief’s final words to the Smalls in Section 8?

3. In Section 8, what does Victor want his dad to buy?

4. What term does July use that frustrates the Small family?

5. Where does Maureen go to find July in Section 10 after an object is discovered missing from their hut?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the author mean when she says Victor is angry “with a white man’s anger, too big for him”?

2. Why do you think Gina and the kids are so readily accepted, but Bam and Maureen are not?

3. What does Bam mean when he says July is “shrewdy”?

4. Explain how July sees his chief.

5. Describe Maureen’s point about the smell of her family.

6. Explain how Bam now feels about his wife by Section 7.

7. In Section 9, what does Martha dream for the future, and how does this differ from July’s dreams?

8. Explain why the chief wants to learn to use a gun.

9. Why is Maureen surprised when July mentions he wants things to go back?

10. Describe the scene where Bam lays face first in the bed. What happened, and what does this signify?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One theme of the novel is that of the complete role reversal between whites and blacks in the book, as shown through both the riots in town and the relationship between Maureen and July. Explain, in detail, this role reversal. Why does it happen, what is the result, and how does this change the world as July and Maureen know it?

Essay Topic 2

In detail, explain what happened to the relationship between Bam and Maureen throughout the novel. Why did they both end up not only not caring for one another by the end of the novel, but not even understanding or even knowing one another? What happened to cause their separation?

Essay Topic 3

The gun is a symbolic object in the novel. What does it symbolize to Bam and Maureen? To the villagers? To July? To Daniel? To the chief? In the end what happens to it, and how does this affect Bam? How does it affect Maureen?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 993 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample