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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What "habitual" character trait of Delia's seems "to slip from her shoulders" (1) after Sykes threatens her with physical violence?
(a) Ease.
(b) Humility.
(c) Meekness.
(d) Honesty.

2. For how long has Delia been doing people's laundry to bring in money?
(a) 15 years.
(b) 7 years.
(c) 20 years.
(d) 10 years.

3. When Sykes tells Delia that he has promised "some other men" (2) that he will not allow Delia to do laundry for white people, whose name is the only one he mentions?
(a) Dave.
(b) Gawd.
(c) Elijah.
(d) Joe.

4. On what night of the week does Delia stay up late in order to get a head start on her work?
(a) Saturday.
(b) Wednesday.
(c) Sunday.
(d) Monday.

5. Where does Delia say Sykes would disappear to with all of his wages during the first year of their marriage?
(a) Sarasota.
(b) Tampa.
(c) Orlando.
(d) Myrtle Beach.

6. What day of the week is considered the Sabbath within traditional Christianity?
(a) Friday.
(b) Saturday.
(c) Thursday.
(d) Sunday.

7. When one of the men's wives had repelled Sykes's advances, she had told him that Delia worked so hard that she bet everything in the house tasted like sweat and what?
(a) Soapsuds.
(b) Mud.
(c) Lye.
(d) Grime.

8. What does Delia mean when she says that she will stay in the house until she is "toted out foot foremost"? (2)
(a) Until the house burns down.
(b) Until she sells the house.
(c) Until she dies.
(d) Until she is arrested.

9. What kind of nuts had Sykes brought as a present to help him woo one of the men's wives?
(a) Peanuts.
(b) Cashews.
(c) Brazil nuts.
(d) Pecans.

10. Where does Sykes say he has been when Delia asks him where he has been with her horse and buckboard?
(a) At church.
(b) At the corner store.
(c) With Bertha.
(d) He does not say.

11. Where does Delia place the washtub when she returns from the yard with it in her hands?
(a) In the kitchen sink.
(b) On the back porch.
(c) On the washbench.
(d) On the bedroom floor.

12. Against what object does Sykes strike his match?
(a) The matchbox.
(b) His corduroy breeches.
(c) The sole of his boot.
(d) The fireplace mantel.

13. What does the narrator say that the men on Joe's porch usually would do with the cane-knots if it were not so stiflingly hot outside?
(a) Give them to the horses.
(b) Hurl them.
(c) Chew them.
(d) Swallow them.

14. What does Delia do with the clothes after Sykes steps on them?
(a) She throws them at him.
(b) She gathers them together again.
(c) She stands between him and the clothes to protect them.
(d) She takes them outside.

15. What verb does the narrator use to describe what Delia's pose in the kitchen does to Sykes?
(a) It angers him.
(b) It scares him.
(c) It emasculates him.
(d) It cows him.

Short Answer Questions

1. Jim says that Sykes has always been crazy about what kind of women?

2. When Delia tells Sykes that she has been taking in laundry the whole time they have been married, what question does he immediately ask her?

3. What adjective does the narrator use to describe Delia's washtub?

4. When the narrator states that Delia lies awake thinking about debris cluttering a certain kind of trail, what adjective is used to describe that trail?

5. When Delia tells Sykes she is not in the mood for a fight because she has just come from a particular place, what is that place?

(see the answer keys)

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