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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 describes a night when all "but two" (94) of which animals in her neighborhood had been slaughtered by soldiers?

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

3. What phrase does third brother-in-law use in response to middle sister's question about the sound she hears during their run?

4. How old was maybe-boyfriend when his parents left home to pursue full-time their ballroom-dancing careers?

5. Middle sister becomes worried that maybe-boyfriend is "refusing to fit in" (74) in what sort of way?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. What is the ten-minute-area?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Look carefully at the passages of Milkman that describe the close relationship between middle sister and third brother-in-law. What is Burns’s purpose for discussing at length the nature of the connection between these two characters?

Essay Topic 2

How is the theme of injustice portrayed within Milkman? Examine Burns's treatment of and messages regarding injustice throughout the work.

Essay Topic 3

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

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This section contains 1,349 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample