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. Who set the fire on the night TJ Avery was nearly lynched?

2. Why doesn't PaPa want his children to play marbles?

3. Who is in jail, accused of killing Mr. Barnett?

4. What does Jeremy give Stacey and Cassie?

5. What does Stacey say would happen to a black person who got caught using the courthouse restrooms or fountain?

Short Essay Questions

1. Analyze the reaction of finding Doris Ann hanging from a rope, in spite of the obvious fact that Wordell was the reason she did not die.

2. Identify events in Chapter 2 that demonstrate why the blacks have no faith in the justice system.

3. Analyze the reason Mama doesn't want Stacey to work the whitewashing job.

4. What revelation does Papa have when he describes Uncle Hammer's reaction to finding Jeremy Sim's photograph?

5. Why is it more dangerous for Russell to wear a military uniform when he travels back to Indiana than to wear his civilian clothes?

6. Explain why Mama begs Papa not to return to the railroad.

7. List the evidence that should have created a reasonable doubt about TJ's guilt in the minds of the jury.

8. Summarize why a sharecropper can never earn enough money to buy his land.

9. Explain whether you feel Mrs. Barnett is, or is not, a credible witness.

10. List reasons why Mama and Big Ma try to talk Mrs. Lee Annie out of voting.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that will answer the following questions: What was the "New Deal"? What were the Works Project Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps mentioned in the novel? What were these programs supposed to do?

Essay Topic 2

In the novel, Mrs. Lee Annie was determined to vote. Using the information found in the novel and the handout copy of the Mississippi Constitution which permitted black people to vote, have the students write an essay describing the conditions placed in the constitution that made voting difficult for blacks. How did she overcome these difficulties?

Essay Topic 3

Write a essay on the author of the story, Mildred A. Taylor. What other novels did she write? What series of novels did she write? Where did she get her inspiration? What kind of awards did she receive for her literary work?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 829 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample