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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 color van does middle sister see across the street from her college class, causing her to think that the milkman is inside?

2. How many objections does middle sister consider when maybe-boyfriend suggests that they move in together?

3. To what location had da really been traveling during his lengthy periods away from the family?

4. The final sentence of Chapter 2 asserts that which of middle sister's tactics meant to ward off the milkman has worked?

5. While walking through the ten-minute area on her way back from French class, middle sister finds the head of what kind of animal?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does maybe-boyfriend suspect about middle sister's reasons for never meeting him in her own neighborhood?

3. Which member of middle sister's family does she despise and why?

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

5. 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?

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

7. What truths does middle sister reveal to ma during their first conversation about the milkman?

8. What is the ten-minute-area?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

Trace the characterization arc of middle sister’s character throughout the novel Milkman. Discuss whether middle sister is a round or flat character and whether middle sister is a static or dynamic character.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Burns's decision to include humor within the fictional narrative of Milkman. What purpose did Burns have in mind when including these inclusions of humor and how does the element of humor support the overarching themes and messages of the text?

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