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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. As the story begins, what is Lutie looking at?
(a) Children playing in the street.
(b) A house for sale.
(c) An apartment for rent.
(d) Her reflection in a window.

2. What effect does Lutie have on Jones?
(a) She makes him long for home.
(b) She makes him more aware of his lonliness.
(c) She makes him see the importance of having a wife.
(d) She makes him realize he doesn't love Min.

3. What do Mrs. Chandler's mother and her white friends seem to believe about black women?
(a) They seem to think black women are trustworthy and deserve better pay.
(b) They seem to think that black women are promiscuous and that white men sexually desire them.
(c) They seem to think that black women are lazy and fail to complete the tasks assigned to them.
(d) They seem to think that black women are hard workers who take great care of their families.

4. What allows Jones to conclude that Min will return home?
(a) He knows she has nowhere to go.
(b) She has left a note indicating her return.
(c) Her table is still in the living room.
(d) Her favorite watch is on the nightstand.

5. As she exists the train on her way to the butcher shop, how does Lutie account for many of her problems?
(a) Lutie feels like the majority of her problems have to do with Bub.
(b) Lutie feels like all of her problems would fade if she had more money.
(c) Lutie feels like her problems are only temporary.
(d) Lutie blames most of her problems on her husband.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Min feel after visiting the root doctor?

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"?

3. Where is Boots' band scheduled to perform?

4. Why does Lutie allow Boots to stalk her like mere prey when she's completely aware of his intentions?

5. What does Lutie contemplate on the bus ride home after she has spent the evening with Boots?

Short Essay Questions

1. Chapter 4 more clearly depicts Jones' obsession with Lutie. In fact, "she made him more aware of his loneliness that ate into him day and night." How might Lutie's mere appearance open up such a void in Jones?

2. Lutie leaves the butcher shop and is in light spirits. As she walks home, she notices that the women are burdened by marketing bags and on their way home to take care of their families after a long day of work. She also notes that the men lounge around watching the women. How does Lutie feels about this distinction?

3. Jones becomes enraged when he looks at Bub and imagines that the boy resembles his father. Why do you think this is?

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

5. What is likely the reason Bub refuses to tell his mother he's afraid of the dark?

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

7. Chapter 1 outlines the dynamics of Lutie's household. Lutie's father's girlfriend, Lil, has Bub lighting her cigarettes and tasting her gin. How does Lil's behavior reflect and amplify Lutie's fears for her son?

8. Lutie first begins to measure people and their intentions in Chapter 1. How do you rate Lutie's ability to read people? Do you think she is accurate in her summations?

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

10. Chapter 2 provides Lutie with a valuable lesson: "Anybody could be rich if he wanted to and worked hard enough and figured it out carefully enough." Still, Lutie is often discouraged by the world around her. How does the external world affect Lutie's internal life?

(see the answer keys)

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