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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. Why does her uncle's wife reject Helga?

2. When she realizes what Axel Olsen is implying, Helga feels

3. What the Dahls have wanted all along was

4. Helga feels she does not fit in with this community because

5. In her lovely room at Naxos, Helga is

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the story imply about Mrs. Hayes-Rore's husband? In what might he have been involved? Explain your answers, quoting text.

2. Discuss Uncle Poul's reaction to Helga's weeping. Is he a kind man? A loving uncle? Why or why not?

3. What is Helga's reasoning for not wanting children? Is this just a defense mechanism on her part? Why, or why not?

4. Dr. Anderson has almost talked Helga into staying at Naxos. What triggers her rage, and why?

5. Discuss Helga's newly emerging feelings about the black population around her in New York. What might this mean about Helga?

6. What was it about Helga's past that was so unhappy? Is her unhappiness justified? Why, or why not?

7. What exactly happens to Helga in Denmark? What is her social life like? Is she doomed to be unhappy again? Why?

8. Why would Helga become alienated in a school for Negro children? What makes her different from other faculty.

9. Discuss Helga's "maladjustment" at Naxos. Is it about the school, or is it about Helga, or both?

10. Discuss Axel Olsen's inappropriateness with Helga. What kind of person is he? Why does Helga reject him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write about the complexities of the personality of Mrs. Hayes-Rore. Why does Larsen develop her character? What does she symbolize? Is she a typical Harlemite? Is she important to Quicksand as a character? If so, what exactly is her role in the story?

Essay Topic 2

What is the current level of poverty among African Americans in the American South? Choose three southern states and compare and contrast the income levels, education and population densities and racial demographics. To what can you attribute the variations among the three states?

Essay Topic 3

Write a well-researched essay on the effects of early American blues music on women's sexuality and the perceptions that surrounded it, before and since. Was there a "code" of sexuality for women during the 20s in black Harlem? How did music influence or coincide with that code?

(see the answer keys)

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