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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 is Hirohito's mother called in the narrative?

2. Who wrote the poem that Vonetta plans to recite at the rally in "Itsy Bitsy Spider"?

3. What is the name of Hirohito's father?

4. Why does Fern's tummy hurt in "Big Red S"?

5. What word from the narrative means to brood silently out of disappointment or annoyance?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the civil rights events on the East Coast and the West Coast differ in the narrative?

2. What does the title of "Movable Type" refer to in the narrative?

3. How has Delphine's behavior changed in "Wish We Had a Camera"? What has led to the change?

4. What is revealed about Hirohito's character in "China Who"?

5. What are Big Ma's feelings in regard to the Black Panther Party and its members?

6. What is signified by the sisters cleaning Cecile's kitchen in "I Birthed a Nation"?

7. What does Delphine ask her mother for in "Expert Colored Counting"? How does Cecile respond?

8. What does Sister Mukumbu teach the class in "Civic Pride"?

9. What poem has Vonetta decided to recite in "Itsy Bitsy Spider"? What does Cecile remark about the poem?

10. How does Cecile respond to Delphine's shopping at Safeway in "Big Red S"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the symbolism of Cecile's kitchen in the novel. What does Cecile's kitchen represent to her? What does it represent to her children? Why is it significant that Cecile bars the children from entering the kitchen?

Essay Topic 2

What are Delphine's experiences like when staying at the Woods' home? How do Delphine's experiences there differ from her experiences staying with Cecile? How are Delphine and her sisters treated by Hirohito and Mrs. Woods?

Essay Topic 3

How have Delphine's, Vonetta's, and Fern's relationships with their mother changed from the beginning of the novel to the end? Whose perceptions of her mother have changed the most? Why?

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