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

2. What does Delia say she had brought to her marriage to Sykes?
(a) Faith.
(b) Commitment.
(c) Love.
(d) Optimism.

3. What instruction does Sykes insist that he has given Delia over and over again without her capitulation?
(a) To keep the stove clean.
(b) To keep white people's clothes out of the house.
(c) To answer him when he asks her a question.
(d) To have his dinner ready when he gets home from work.

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

5. Jim says that Sykes has always been crazy about what kind of women?
(a) Dark.
(b) Beautiful.
(c) Light.
(d) Fat.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What does Sykes tell Delia he will do if she argues with him about taking in white people's laundry?

3. 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?

4. What does Walter say he sees Sykes do every time he passes a woman?

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?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

4. Describe the symbolism of the iron skillet.

5. What is the significance of Delia's comment that she does not want to fight with Sykes because she has just come back from church services?

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

7. How is the role of community portrayed within the scene on Joe Clarke's porch?

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

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

10. Before Delia's decision to stand up to Sykes by raising the iron skillet in a defensive pose, how does she react to his verbal abuse?

(see the answer keys)

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