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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. Who has Milkman been sleeping with for some time?

2. Who does Macon talk about in order to distract Milkman from his other questions?

3. Who is Milkman becoming worried about?

4. What does Milkman send to Hagar?

5. Who does Pilate tell Ruth she believes will save Milkman's life one day?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the progress of Milkman's trip back home?

2. What does Milkman do for his father in the rental business?

3. What is Milkman's reaction to the message he receives at the General Store?

4. What hinders Milkman's journey to his father's old house?

5. How does Hagar try to kill Milkman as he is lying on the couch?

6. Why did Pilate and Macon go into hiding?

7. What is the explanation that Susan Byrd gives for her behavior the previous time that Milkman visited?

8. What does Pilate do when she realizes Guitar and Milkman have stolen the green bag?

9. What does Milkman notice about himself as he grows older?

10. What happened to Sing according to Susan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The concept of love is a strange one in this novel as it seems to be out of proportion for the relationships that are described.

Part 1 - Describe Macon's love for Ruth.

Part 2 - Describe Ruth's love for her son and for her father.

Part 3 - Describe Hagar's love for Milkman.

Part 4 - What do these examples of love seem to indicate about the novel's ideas of love? Is love a good thing? A bad thing? A strange thing? Why?

Essay Topic 2

There is a lot of foreshadowing in this novel, though it's not always clear at the time. Morrison's use of these 'hints' helps a reader see that the story is moving in the direction it says it is, even when it seems like the characters are unpredictable.

Part 1 - Describe three instances of foreshadowing in the story.

Part 2 - Why do you think Pilate is the character who is able to give the other characters many of the foreshadowing hints?

Part 3 - What does foreshadowing do for this story? Does it help the characters or does it hurt them? How?

Essay Topic 3

The ongoing debate over nature vs. the ideals of society is one that plays out in this novel, especially with those in the Dead family.

Part 1 - Compare and contrast Pilate and Macon. How do they live and how does this relate to society?

Part 2 - Do you feel society plays a large role in the decisions we make or does our upbringing play a larger role? Why?

Part 3 - Does society cause us to be who we are or does family? Give examples from the book to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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