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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 is Manny doing at the table when Caesar arrives?

2. When the girls arrive at Mildred Harper's house, what does Mildred do?

3. Who accompanies Betsy Ann on her trips to retrieve her pigeons?

4. How does Caesar learn the mentally disabled woman's schedule?

5. What kind of shirt does Manny always wear?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Caesar and Carol steal from their mark?

2. How does Robert respond to his daughter's desire to raise pigeons of her own?

3. How does Rhonda Ferguson's father treat Cassandra?

4. Describe the environment in which Betsy Ann grows up.

5. In "The First Day", how well prepared is the protagonist's mother to enroll her child in school?

6. Why does the protagonist's mother slap her across the mouth in "The First Day"?

7. In "The First Day", why does the protagonist's mother have her heart set on taking her to a particular school?

8. What do the pigeons symbolize?

9. Describe Robert's reaction to becoming a widower and single father in "The Girl Who Raised Pigeons."

10. In "The First Day", why does the little girl at Walker-Jones Elementary look at the protagonist's mother as though she is "diseased"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the significance of education in two or more of the stories in this collection. How does education play a role in these stories? What is Jones' commentary regarding education itself and the role education plays in this particular community? Provide details from the stories to support your argument.

Essay Topic 2

Examine Jones' exploration of family and family structures throughout this collection. What models of family does Jones provide in the work? How do the various models compare to one another? Are they divergent in significant ways? Do they all contribute to a common conception of family? Do Jones' families behave in conventional or expected ways? Provide examples from at least four families in the text.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the way in which Jones portrays poverty in this book. Through a close examination of at least three characters in the book, discuss Jones' approach to the sensitive topic of poverty in the African-American community. Are these characters defined by their socio-economic status? How does he treat characters who live in poverty? Does their economic standing seem a reflection of their own actions or of a flawed system?

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