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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. In what area of the most popular drinking-club in the district do middle sister and longest friend meet up?

2. What information does ma demand of middle sister just before she calls out for ingredients to be brought from the "backyard pharmacy" (225)?

3. How many hours after she goes to bed does middle sister wake up with "unbelievable stomach pains" (214) as described at the start of Chapter 5?

4. How many people in the group of seven men confronting maybe-boyfriend at his house are wearing Halloween masks?

5. Ma tells wee sisters that while she is briefly away from middle sister's side, they need to make sure that middle sister does not engage in what activity?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe an instance when Burns makes a point about how polarization often leads to exclusion.

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

4. Discuss a particular allusion Burns uses to allude to another literary work associated with the theme of depression.

5. 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?

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

7. What are middle sister's expectations when she tells longest friend the truth about the milkman?

8. What major revelation about the community's view of middle sister does longest friend reveal during their meeting?

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

10. For what reason does the incident in the chip shop happen, according to middle sister?

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

Write an essay that discusses the symbolism of the cover art chosen for Milkman.

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,165 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample