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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In her illness, Helga is unable to
(a) Ask the right questions.
(b) Love her new child.
(c) Give birth.
(d) Pray properly.

2. Irene privately considers what it would be like if
(a) Clare should die.
(b) Brian and Clare eloped.
(c) Clare re-entered Harlem as a black woman.
(d) Clare took her sons.

3. This chapter finds Brian Redfield
(a) Making home visits.
(b) Withdrawn.
(c) Busy at home.
(d) Extremely joyous.

4. What did Clare's aunts do to her?
(a) Tortured her with religion.
(b) Used her father against her.
(c) Made her care for them in their old age.
(d) Forced her to learn to cook.

5. Why does Irene feel it unsafe for Clare to come back?
(a) She could be assaulted.
(b) Her husband and child could find out.
(c) She could be mistaken for someone else.
(d) Her picture could end up in the papers.

Short Answer Questions

1. What animal image comes to Irene's mind when considering Clare?

2. Clare's admission that she is lacking in morals

3. For more than a week, Helga remains in a state of

4. When Brian tries to talk to his sons about racism, Irene

5. When Clare falls from the window, Irene cries with

Short Essay Questions

1. What is odd about the initial meeting among Irene, Gertrude and Clare? Are these conversations typical among women friends? What, if anything, makes the visit among the three women unusual?

2. How does this time in Helga's life compare to other times? Is it similar or different? In what ways?

3. What is it that has kept Clare from leaving her husband and living permanently in Harlem?

4. What, exactly, does Irene fervently wish John Bellew could know? Why?

5. Discuss how giving birth to her fourth child seems to be Helga's breaking point. Why does this happen? What does the death of her infant symbolize?

6. What do we know about Clare Kendry from her letter to Irene? What do we know about her from this chapter?

7. During a period while Clare is gone, is there peace in the Redfield home? Why, or why not?

8. What is the burden that these characters carry with them throughout the story?

9. Is there anything we can deduce about Irene's response to Clare's letter without knowing the whole story? If so, what are they?

10. What do we learn about the marriage of Irene and Brian Redfield in this chapter? Is it healthy? Is it durable? Why, or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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