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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 is shocked to find herself labeled in the same way as which other character?

2. Longest friend reports that which character has been brought into court on charges of "propositioning holy women" (213)?

3. At what location do "proper couples" (167) in the community often meet before spending time together?

4. Which "shiny" member of tablets girl's family does she poison, permanently affecting her victim's "health and eyesight" (217)?

5. What type of establishment is the location referred to by the community as "the usual place" (169)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What change occurs in middle sister's feelings for maybe-boyfriend after the milkman begins to stalk her?

2. What significant event happens in a chip shop shortly after real milkman is shot?

3. What act does middle sister see as the one that would symbolize her surrender to the milkman?

4. What three-syllable response does middle sister use in response to any question she is ever asked and why?

5. Which group had reportedly failed in their attempts to save tablets girl's life prior to her demise?

6. How does longest friend's reaction to middle sister's confession surprise middle sister?

7. Why do the renouncers-of-the-state come to middle sister's family's door in Chapter 5?

8. What kind of murders are said to be "unfathomable" (237) within the confines of middle sister's community and why are they described in this way?

9. Who is tablets girl?

10. What does middle sister mean when she says, "My inner world, it seemed, had gone away" (176)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is Burns’s message regarding the connection between silence and control and what tools are used within Milkman in order to get this message across to the reader?

Essay Topic 2

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

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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