View a FREE sample

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. What color van does the milkman drive when he is not driving one of his sports cars?

3. How many sunsets must French teacher's students write about for homework after their discussion?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What aspects of maybe-boyfriend's life are revealed within Chapters 1 and 2 of the novel?

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

3. What evidence does middle sister provide for her claim that third brother-in-law should have been designated as a "beyond-the-pale" (41) by now, but that he has not?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

How does Burns use the first person point of view to tell the story of Milkman and in what way does this choice serve the purposes of the text? Discuss how Burns’s choice of point of view helps to advance the treatment of at least three particular themes within the text.

Essay Topic 3

In what way does Burns utilize irony within the text? Discuss at least three uses of irony within Milkman and explore each instance's connection to larger themes contained within the piece.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,431 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample