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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. For how long has Delia been married to Sykes?
(a) 20 years.
(b) 7 years.
(c) 10 years.
(d) 15 years.

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

3. 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?
(a) Church.
(b) Bertha's house.
(c) The corner store.
(d) City Hall.

4. When Sykes declares how tired he is of Delia and leaves the house, what does he do on his way out?
(a) Bangs on the mailbox.
(b) Slams the front door.
(c) Kicks the fence.
(d) Slams the back gate.

5. 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) Joe.
(b) Dave.
(c) Elijah.
(d) Gawd.

Short Answer Questions

1. The narrator describes Delia's shoulders as thin and what?

2. In what room does Delia sort the clothes she will launder?

3. What does Delia call Sykes's action of scaring her with the bullwhip?

4. What object does Delia pick up immediately after Sykes threatens her in the kitchen?

5. Against what object does Sykes strike his match?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sykes's bullwhip symbolize within the story?

2. In what ways do the men on Joe Clarke's porch express admiration of Delia?

3. In what ways do the men on Joe Clarke's porch express contempt for Sykes?

4. Why does Delia stay up so much later on Sunday nights than on any other night of the week and how does Sykes find fault with this practice?

5. How does Sykes react to Delia's questions whenever she asks him a question?

6. What is meant by the piece of narration that states, "It was plain that the breaches must remain agape" (6)?

7. What behaviors does Delia display that demonstrate her familiarity with Sykes's abusive behaviors?

8. How does the author make a change in Delia's speech in order to portray her newly-won defiance toward Sykes and his attempts to control her?

9. At what point does the author show the first change in Delia's character and how does she portray this change?

10. How is foreshadowing incorporated into the very first encounter between Delia and Sykes?

(see the answer keys)

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