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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. How does The Casino appear when empty?
(a) Dreary.
(b) Well-lit.
(c) Dirty.
(d) Welcoming.

2. Which literary element does the author use to give the wind its power?
(a) Symbolism.
(b) Personification.
(c) Foreshadowing.
(d) Alliteration.

3. Why did Lutie limit her visits home when working for the Chandlers?
(a) Lutie enjoyed staying at the Chandlers'.
(b) Lutie did not have a car.
(c) Lutie limited her visits to save money.
(d) Lutie did not want to see her husband.

4. Why does everyone stop to hear Lutie sing along with the jukebox?
(a) She invites them over with her warm presence.
(b) Her voice relays a message that the lyrics are unable to convey.
(c) She's singing their favorite song.
(d) She sounds terrible.

5. What does Boots remind Lutie of?
(a) Of a foolish man with an outrageous dream.
(b) Of a stand-up man.
(c) Of a dog in heat.
(d) Of a cat stalking its prey.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Lutie recall after waking from her nightmare about Jones and the neighborhood?

2. What does Boots hand the motorcycle policeman when he is pulled over?

3. Now that Lutie and Bub live alone, what is her biggest fear about leaving her son without supervision?

4. What does Lutie assume the super has done to the dog as she leaves the apartment?

5. Why does the author choose to use animals to represent the neighborhood people in Lutie's nightmare?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. In Chapter 2, Lutie returns from Mrs. Chandler's and arrives in Harlem relieved to be away from white people. How does Lutie believe that white women and men look at her?

4. 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?

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

6. How does Lutie feel after being offered the job of singer in Boots' band? What does she know for sure after the offer?

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

8. Chapter 1 opens with the description of a cold and windy day in New York City. Why might the author have chosen to describe the wind through personification?

9. How does chapter 3 illustrate the racism and sexism faced by Lutie? Provide at least 1 example of each.

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

(see the answer keys)

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