View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happened to Clare's father?

2. Brian demands that Irene not

3. At all costs, Irene does not want to

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

5. Irene allowing Clare into the private rooms of the house symbolizes

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How did her religion help Helga through difficult times?

4. After two years pass, Clare again wants to become involved in Irene's life. Is Irene's reaction negative or positive? Explain her reaction.

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 kind of parent is Clare Kendry? What are the clues, thus far, that help us to draw conclusions about her parenting abilities? How has Larsen informed us about this?

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

8. Things have taken a turn for the worse at the Redfields'. What are the clues that the story is inching toward a conclusion as it pertains to the Redfields and Clare Kendry? What conclusions can we draw about this section of the story?

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

10. Discuss Helga's new exuberance as the wife of a minister.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Research the country of Denmark and determine what percent of the population is black. Is Denmark a typical destination for people of color from the US? Why, or why not? How does the general population of that country feel at this time in history about mixed races -- would a bi-racial person feel at home in Denmark today? If you were a black man or woman relocating to Copenhagen, what type of work would you expect to get?

Essay Topic 2

Write about Christian spiritualism among African Americans in the 1920s in America. What were their general doctrines, and where did they come from? Did the beliefs come over with slaves from Africa, or were they developed among blacks in America? Where did these ideas come from?

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)

This section contains 1,579 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample