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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. At all costs, Irene does not want to
2. Helga chooses to remain
3. Irene attributes Brian's complete withdrawal to
4. Helga grows tired and ill from
5. In Chicago, Clare's husband
Short Essay Questions
1. 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?
2. Why do you suppose Clare is pushing herself so rigorously to get involved in Irene's life? Why has she not chosen, for instance, Gertrude, to reacquaint her with the black culture? What is the particular attraction to Irene?
3. What, exactly, does Irene fervently wish John Bellew could know? Why?
4. Discuss Helga's new exuberance as the wife of a minister.
5. Is there anything we can deduce about Irene's response to Clare's letter without knowing the whole story? If so, what are they?
6. After two years pass, Clare again wants to become involved in Irene's life. Is Irene's reaction negative or positive? Explain her reaction.
7. Speculate on why Clare is silent at the Redfield dinner table, but talkative and gregarious a parties with others. Does she have a split personality, or is she just shy at the Redfields'? How does Larsen let on what is going on without saying it?
8. What is the burden that these characters carry with them throughout the story?
9. During a period while Clare is gone, is there peace in the Redfield home? Why, or why not?
10. 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?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
From a woman's perspective, did Larsen break ground for or elevate women in her writing? For blacks? For black women? How did Larsen's characters portray women, in general? Was it constructive? Do the characters provide an example of strong, evolving womanhood? Why, or why not?
Essay Topic 2
Write a biography, from what you can find through research, of Nella Larsen and her own experiences that contributed to her stories. Are her stories autobiographical? Where did she gain knowledge of the problems of being bi-racial? What impact, if any, did her writing have on Americans?
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?
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This section contains 1,562 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) |
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