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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. Middle sister says that ma has been tormenting her about her lack of a husband since which one of her birthdays?

2. Which character does middle sister consider to be an "armchair supporter" (112) of renouncers, rather than an actual renouncer?

3. What malady does middle sister admit to having in Chapter 3?

4. Middle sister says that everyone in her neighborhood, renouncers or not, waits at least how many minutes before venturing outside once they hear the dogs start to bark?

5. The only person in middle sister's neighborhood who is widely regarded as a shiny person is the sister of which character?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the symbolism of the British tabloids and newspapers?

2. What action does middle sister perform "without a shake" for "the first time in ages" (165) when the real milkman drops her off at home and why?

3. Why are the students in middle sister's French class so loathe to hear the sky described as any other color besides blue?

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

5. Which answers are said to be "acceptable" (72) when one is asked the color of the sky in middle sister's society?

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

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

8. Which elements of middle sister's second interaction with the milkman make her feel relatively safe?

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Would Burns’s novel Milkman be classified as a dystopian novel? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Burns from an Existential perspective. What elements of life does it suggest hold the most meaning and why?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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