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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where do Lutie and Bub currently live?
(a) With Min and Jones.
(b) In an apartment by themselves.
(c) With Lutie's father and his girlfriend, Lil.
(d) In Lutie's employer's basement.

2. What proposition does Mrs. Hedges offer Lutie that causes Lutie to think, "If you live on this damn street you're supposed to want to earn a little extra money sleeping around nights"?
(a) Mrs. Hedges tells Lutie that she knows of a white man who "would like her services".
(b) Mrs. Hedges offers to keep Bub for Lutie until Lutie gets off of work.
(c) Mrs. Hedges tells Lutie that she knows of a rich family looking for a maid's help.
(d) Mrs. Hedges offers to allow Bub to shine shoes in her apartment.

3. Now that Lutie and Bub live alone, what is her biggest fear about leaving her son without supervision?
(a) She's afraid that he will perform his chores without someone to stay on top of him.
(b) She's afraid their relationship will fall apart.
(c) She's afraid Bub will get caught up in gang life.
(d) She's afraid of the traffic he'll encounter while running around outside.

4. How do the orchestra members react to Lutie when Boots introduces her?
(a) As if she were interrupting something.
(b) As if they were eager to get to know her.
(c) As if she were just another girl Boots had picked up.
(d) As if she were the most beautiful woman they'd ever seen.

5. Which statement best describes Jones's emotions?
(a) Anger, always on the verge of erupting.
(b) Hopelessness, often stopping any personal progress.
(c) Indifference, consistently preventing him from connecting with people.
(d) Happiness, easily read all over his face.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Bub contemplate while his mother is gone to sing for the orchestra members at The Casino?

2. How does Bub feel about the school lunches?

3. Lutie becomes furious when she sees Bub doing what?

4. What allows Jones to conclude that Min will return home?

5. As the story begins, what is Lutie looking at?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Lutie's grandmother's insistence that the butchers in Harlem use embalming fluid to give their meat a nice fresh color reflect her grandmother's overall view of life?

2. How do Boots' responses to how he gets gas and how he avoided the draft serve the reader? What is the reader able to gather about Boots from his answers?

3. What does Lutie feels she sees in the eyes of the neighborhood people, specifically the people she sees in the emergency room?

4. Lutie secures the job at the Chandlers', but she is unable to share her joy with her husband. Why is this?

5. After reading Chapter 5, it is clear what motivates Min. Using the knowledge you've gained about Min, compare her to Lutie. How do the women differ? What characteristics do they share?

6. Who does Lutie hold responsible for the end of her marriage?

7. How does Min's relationship with Jones reflect the relationships in her past?

8. Lutie slaps Bub when she sees him with a shoe shining kit. Why does a shoe shining kit inspire such rage in Lutie?

9. In Chapter 1, what idea does the author hope to represent with the shrinking canary, dog, and woman in Jones' apartment?

10. Describe what Junto's means to the different people in the neighborhood.

(see the answer keys)

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