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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 does the narrator compare Creole’s musicians?

2. On what day does Sonny invite the narrator to hear him play?

3. On what avenue does the narrator live?

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

5. Which instrument is played at the sidewalk revival?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. How does Isabel realize that Sonny has left?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

To what other writer’s work in your experience does Baldwin’s seem most similar? What makes the writers similar? What differentiates them? Overall, which do you regard as doing better at the craft of writing, and why?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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