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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is unusual about Desdemona's presence on Hastings Street?
(a) Desdemona is dressed in traditional Greek clothing while everyone on Hastings Street is dressed in modern clothing.
(b) Hastings Street is a long distance from her home on Hurlbut.
(c) Hastings Street is primarily a black neighborhood and Desdemona is white.
(d) Hastings Street is primarily a white neighborhood and Desdemona is black.

2. What does the narrator say makes him/her "the most famous hermaphrodite in history"?
(a) S/he lived as a girl but had the body of a boy.
(b) S/he has the brain of a boy, but was raised as a girl.
(c) S/he was studied by Dr. Luce.
(d) S/he went to the doctor to have a sex change operation.

3. What commentary on beauty does Julie Kikuchi make in this chapter?
(a) Beauty is always freakish.
(b) Gender has no bearing on beauty.
(c) True beauty comes from inside a person.
(d) Beauty is only skin deep.

4. What religion do the members of Temple No. 1 practice?
(a) Catholicism.
(b) Islam.
(c) Greek Orthodox Christianity.
(d) No religion. They are a business, not a church.

5. What is the English translation of "ex ovo omnia"?
(a) Everything comes out of an egg.
(b) Everything exits an egg.
(c) Everything is an egg.
(d) Every child begins as an egg.

6. What happens to Milton as he is about to go into war that Desdemona believes is an answer to her prayers?
(a) He receives word that he has been accepted to the US Naval Academy and is immediately transported off of the ship.
(b) He is injured by a fellow seaman and spends the rest of the war safely in a US hospital.
(c) He receives word that Tessie has broken off her engagement to Mike.
(d) He is discharged from the Navy and is able to return to Detroit to work in the Zebra Room.

7. What is unusual about Lefty and Desdemona's relationship?
(a) They live alone in their family home after their parents die.
(b) They have very different interests. Lefty likes the modern, city life while Desdemona is more traditional.
(c) They are sexually attracted to each other even though they are brother and sister.
(d) They are pretending to be brother and sister, but are actually involved in a romantic relationship.

8. What drives Desdemona and Lefty from Bithynios?
(a) The advancing Turkish army.
(b) The strong desire to join their cousin in America.
(c) The advancing Greek army.
(d) All of their neighbors are leaving and they do not want to be left alone in the village.

9. What does Uncle Pete encourage Tessie and Milton to do to ensure their baby will be a girl?
(a) Use a thermometer to predict Tessie's ovulation date and have sex 24 hours after she ovulates.
(b) Go to church and pray that they will have a baby girl.
(c) Use a thermometer to predict Tessie's ovulation date and have sex 24 hours before she ovulates.
(d) Use in-vitro fertilization.

10. Who is Fard Muhammad?
(a) Maurice Plantagenet.
(b) Dr. Philobosian.
(c) Elijah Poole.
(d) Jimmy Zismo.

11. Who does Desdemona over hear through the heating vents in the Silk Room of the Temple No. 1?
(a) Sister Wanda.
(b) Betty Smith.
(c) The Prophet Muhammed.
(d) W.D. Fard.

12. What mistake does Dr. Philobosian make when the narrator is born?
(a) He becomes distracted by Nurse Rosalee.
(b) He fails to administer an epidural to Tessie.
(c) He incorrectly diagnoses the baby with a birth defect.
(d) He fails to fully examine his/her genitals thus does not notice s/he was a hermaphrodite.

13. What does Desdemona's mother say is critical for encourage silk worms to produce good silk?
(a) A warm environment.
(b) Their caretaker's purity.
(c) Peace.
(d) Soft music.

14. How does Lefty communicate with Calliope?
(a) Using sign language.
(b) By speaking.
(c) By writing on his chalkboard.
(d) By making faces.

15. What does Chapter Eleven do after the church service that shocks and frightens Tessie?
(a) He shouts obscenities in the church.
(b) He climbs up on a chair in the reception room.
(c) He spills hot coffee on a little girl.
(d) He brings a dead bird into to show Father Mike.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Tessie and her family wait out the riots?

2. Which of the following actions is NOT part of Lefty and Desdemona's plan to convince themselves and others that they are young lovers rather than brother and sister?

3. To what religious faith does Stephanides family belong?

4. What does Desdemona admire about the women of Temple No.1?

5. What does Calliope do when she she is baptized?

(see the answer keys)

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