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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 do the authorities do to Isaac when he is caught and "talks back"?

2. What does Dana ask to be put around Rufus's bed?

3. How does Rufus get Alice back to his household?

4. What does the doctor often do as a cure-all?

5. How many babies does Alice lose?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Dana refuse to drive once she starts time-traveling?

2. What does Dana convince Rufus to do for Alice and Isaac because of his violence against them both?

3. Why does Rufus say Tom Weylin "had" to beat Dana for running away?

4. Why does Dana begin to see that Rufus gets "rewarded" for behaving so badly?

5. What conclusion does Dana's cousin reach about her injuries in Part III?

6. How does Kevin feel when he and Dana get home to 1976?

7. Why does Dana get beaten so badly in Part IV?

8. How does Kevin's family react to his marrying Dana, a Black woman?

9. What is different between marriages between slaves and those between whites in the 1800s?

10. In Part IV, how long has Kevin been alone in the 1800s?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the symbolism of Dana's loss of her arm in the end of the novel.

Essay Topic 2

How does Butler's decision to narrate the story from the first-person perspective affect the reader's experience of the novel? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Why do you think Butler choose to end Dana's and Rufus's relationship with her killing of him? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 545 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample