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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. To what is Sonny’s experience compared?

2. Which instrument is played at the sidewalk revival?

3. What adjective is applied to Isabel’s parents?

4. What musician does Sonny disparage?

5. To what does the narrator compare Creole’s musicians?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. How does Isabel realize that Sonny has left?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Which character is the second most important in the text? How does the work support such an assertion?

Essay Topic 2

A lack of formal sectional division in the short story obliges a fairly arbitrary breakdown of the text for purposes of study and discussion. On what grounds might the current divisions be in place? Why and how are they appropriate to the text?

Essay Topic 3

Sources attest to the presence of “Sonny’s Blues” on must-read lists. Assuming that such status reflects popularity, what accounts for the popularity of the short story? How does it do so?

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