View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 9 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In which of the following had the narrator’s uncle worked?

2. Of which borough does the narrator think while talking with Sonny’s childhood acquaintance?

3. In what branch of the military had the narrator served?

4. Which of the following does the narrator note having thrown from rooftops?

5. What metal does the narrator associate with Sonny?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator note would happen on Sunday evenings with his parents when someone turned on a light?

2. Why does the narrator note that Sonny and his father had not gotten along?

3. Why does the narrator posit his students are full of rage?

4. For what is Sonny arrested?

5. What outcome does Sonny’s old acquaintance foresee for him?

6. What are the narrator’s earliest memories of Sonny?

7. Why does the narrator note being glad of Isabel’s presence when he brings Sonny home?

8. Why does the narrator note having taken up residence where he did?

9. Why had the narrator not known he had an uncle?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Assuming that “Sonny’s Blues” should be standard reading for a given class and level, what class and what level? Why that class and why that level? What in the text suggests as much, and how does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

Consider the ending of the story. Does it satisfy? How or how not?

Essay Topic 3

What character is the protagonist of “Sonny’s Blues”? How does the short story support such an assertion?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 501 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample