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

Short Answer Questions

1. How old is Sonny when his father dies?

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

3. What instrument had the narrator’s uncle played?

4. How old is the narrator when his father dies?

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

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 had the narrator not known he had an uncle?

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

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

5. For what is Sonny arrested?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the overall attitude of the story towards musical performance? How does that attitude emerge from the text?

Essay Topic 2

Conversely, given demonstrated efforts toward censorship in a number of countries, what would likely prompt bans of “Sonny’s Blues”? By which groups? Why?

Essay Topic 3

How reliable is the narrator of the short story? What in the text indicates that reliability, and how does it do so?

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