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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. 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?
(a) Where his share of the profits have gone.
(b) Whether dinner is ready.
(c) If she has salted the stew.
(d) How the subject involves him.

2. What simile does Hurston use to characterize Delia's throwing off of her most habitual character trait?
(a) Like a blown scarf.
(b) Like a swatch of chiffon.
(c) Like an old snakeskin.
(d) Like a lace collar.

3. The narrator describes Delia's shoulders as thin and what?
(a) Bent.
(b) Stooped.
(c) Sloped.
(d) Strong.

4. Who lets a bullwhip fall onto Delia's shoulders in order to scare her?
(a) Dave.
(b) Joe.
(c) Bertha.
(d) Sykes.

5. What kind of indifference does the narrator say Delia comes to feel about everything Sykes says or does after she realizes that his evil deeds will revisit him in the end?
(a) Bored.
(b) Triumphant.
(c) Tremendous.
(d) Uneasy.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

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

3. Where does Sykes say that he will kick the clothes the next time she brings them home?

4. In what season does the story entitled "Sweat" begin?

5. 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?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is shown about Delia's character traits in the very first paragraph of the story?

2. What is the reason for the listlessness of the men who gather on Joe Clarke's porch?

3. How is the reader made aware that Delia used to love Sykes and still could if he would only change his behavior?

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

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

6. In what season does the story begin its narrative and what does this choice by the author symbolize?

7. In what ways does Sykes's character emerge within the story's very first featured encounter between Sykes and Delia?

8. What is demonstrated about Sykes's character when the narrator states, "It pleased him for Delia to see" (3) him ordering for Bertha at the store?

9. Describe the symbolism of the iron skillet.

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

(see the answer keys)

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