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 is hit when someone throws a bottle?

2. What does Uncle Hammer decide to do?

3. Why are the three boys picking on Cousin Bud?

4. What happens when Mrs. Lee Annie announces she is going to register to vote in a few days?

5. What does Cassie want to do when she hears Mrs. Lee Annie wants to register to vote?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss what seems to happen between Cassie and Suzella after Cassie gets in trouble for losing her temper in school.

2. Describe what Stacey says about his experience after leaving home to work in the cane fields.

3. What does Stacey tell Papa when he writes home to ask about this year's crop?

4. What impact does the arrival of Suzella have on Cassie?

5. List several of the reasons Stacey wants to get a job, even if doing so is against the wishes of his family.

6. Why do the three young men humiliate Cousin Bud? Are their actions considered hypocritical?

7. Explain why the farmer continued to show disrespect for black people even as he discussed reorganizing the union to include both white and black farmers.

8. Explain why Wordell's comments about Cassie's unkind treatment of Suzella matter so much to Cassie.

9. In the final chapter, what does the Sheriff reveal about why he is letting Stacey and Moe go?

10. What information do the Logans get about Stacey?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that will answer the following questions: What were the assumptions made by the plantation owners about the blacks in the community? Were these assumptions accurate?

Essay Topic 2

What did you learn from the novel about pre-civil-rights history? Write an essay detailing how closely this novel portrayed what actually happened during that period in our history? Give examples from the novel.

Resources:

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/A-Lesson-Before-Dying-Critical-Essays-The-Pre-Civil-Rights-South.id-63,pageNum-58.html

http://neabigread.net/books/lessonbeforedying/teachers/LessonBeforeDyingHandout2.pdf

http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/holland/masc/xcivilrights.html

http://www.pbs.org/harrymoore/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1294360

http://www.centralhigh57.org/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/

http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/civilrightstv/

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/civilrights/index.htm

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0pro-1

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the "night men" that were referred to in the story. Who were they? What were their goals in the novel? Were they successful in meeting their goals?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 934 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample