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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. To which of the following does the narrator compare Sonny’s childhood acquaintance?

2. At what age had Sonny considered traveling abroad?

3. Which of the following does the narrator note reacts most favorably to Sonny’s arrival?

4. What instrument does the narrator associate with Sunday afternoons with his parents?

5. Which of the following does the narrator use as a term for drugs?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. For what is Sonny arrested?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topic 3

In the short story, some characters are given no name, some are given but one name, and still others are referenced by title. What significance, if any, accrues to patterns of naming in the novel? If no significance accrues, what purpose might be served by the patterns of naming in the novel? How does “Sonny’s Blues” bear as much out?

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