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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. When middle sister believes that the milkman has followed her to her college class, she feels like a fool for believing that which tactic had worked?

2. From what country is the flag adorning the car part awarded to maybe-boyfriend?

3. What kinds of abandoned buildings occupy the location called "the ten-minute area" (81)?

4. What is the only event that ever causes maybe-boyfriend to become angry and combative?

5. Middle sister says that the milkman's communication with her nearly always consists of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what reason does the real milkman bring up the subject of wee sisters?

2. What event convinces middle sister that the tactics she has been using to ward off the milkman are not working?

3. With which aspect of middle sister's habit of walking while reading does third brother-in-law take issue and why?

4. What contrast does middle sister point out between da's level of openness in life and his level of openness in death?

5. What horrific and significant event had occurred when middle sister was nine years old?

6. Describe an instance when sound is used to underscore a particular theme within Chapter 1.

7. Discuss one quality within French teacher's personality that qualifies her as a "beyond-the-pale," (69) according to middle sister.

8. How do the students in middle sister's class react to French teacher's comments about the sky and which elements of their society have caused them to instinctively feel this way?

9. For what reason does middle sister discuss the activities that go on in the park where she likes to go for runs?

10. Which character does middle sister suspect of having started a rumor about herself and an older man?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What messages does Burns send to the audience about the theme of isolation?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Burns’s use of metaphor, simile, imagery, and other literary devices as a means to send particular thematic messages within the narrative of Milkman.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Burns’s use of the motif of sound within the novel entitled Milkman.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,563 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample