View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. The workers engage in _____________ to prove that the factory has only rented their hands, not their minds.

2. To whom does Jess lose her butch virginity?

3. Jess finds that she is hated mostly for her ________________.

4. What did people in society normally label lesbians, gays, and transsexuals?

5. Butch Al has the masculine clothes, strength of form, and ________________ that Jess dreams about having.

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Jess' life as she assimilates into gay life in Buffalo.

2. What happens to Jess on her first night on her own?

3. What is the significance of Jess being called a "stone" butch?

4. What does Jess reveal about her life that many readers today would find shocking?

5. Why does Jess ultimately run away from home?

6. How does Theresa react to Jess' desire to take male hormones?

7. Why did the butches and femmes have no recourse against the police brutality?

8. How does Jess accept the fact that a black man gets a job she is capable of too?

9. Describe the circumstances in which Jess is deliberately set up to be hurt at the bindery.

10. What happens when Jess and Ed show up at the funeral not wearing dresses?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Project into the future ten years after the end of the novel and write a brief synopsis for the lives of Jess and three other characters. Be sure to incorporate personal, political and cultural impacts on the characters' lives.

Essay Topic 2

Explain the significance of the novel's title STONE BUTCH BLUES. Why did Feinberg choose this title? Is there an understood message in the title? Is there another title you can suggest that might be more appropriate?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the concept of loneliness as it exhibits in the story. Which of the characters are lonely? Are they all lonely in some way? Explain the loneliness and the methods and attempts to overcome it.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 973 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample