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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. From what does Grace die?

2. From where does Sonny send mail to the narrator?

3. What drink is served to Sonny at the piano?

4. What instrument does the narrator initially think Sonny will play?

5. Which of the following do the narrator and Sonny drink together?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. How does Isabel realize that Sonny has left?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

A lack of formal sectional division in the short story obliges a fairly arbitrary breakdown of the text for purposes of study and discussion. How might the short story be sectioned off other than it currently is? Why might those divisions be appropriate, based on the text and its contexts of composition and reception?

(see the answer keys)

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