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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. In front of what kind of eatery is the sidewalk revival?

2. Which of the following songs is sung at the sidewalk revival?

3. From what does Grace die?

4. What musician does Sonny disparage?

5. Who rails at Sonny about truancy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the narrator express misgivings about Sonny going into music?

2. Why does Sonny make a point of smoking in front of the narrator after his mother’s death?

3. Why does the narrator posit that passers-by doubt the holiness of those conducting the sidewalk revival?

4. How does Isabel realize that Sonny has left?

5. What effect does Grace’s death have on Isabel?

6. What revelation does Sonny report from listening to the sidewalk revival?

7. How does the narrator depict the performer’s experience of music?

8. What does the narrator perceive Creole asserting “the blues were all about” (47)?

9. What effect does the narrator notice the sidewalk revival has on its attendees?

10. How does the narrator depict the common experience of hearing music?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

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 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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 577 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample