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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 confronts Sykes at the dinner table about removing the snake, what two behaviors of his does she say she has put up with for many years?
(a) Starving her and yelling at her.
(b) Ignoring her and being unfaithful to her.
(c) Starving her and beating her.
(d) Hating her and beating her.

2. What does Delia tell Sykes he has killed by bringing the snake to the house?
(a) Her peace.
(b) Her spirit.
(c) Her contentment.
(d) Her insides.

3. What skill does Sykes learn from a Northern white woman?
(a) How to run a store.
(b) How to raise chickens.
(c) How to read.
(d) How to drive a car.

4. Before Delia begs Sykes to kill the rattlesnake he has brought home, what does she ask him to do with it?
(a) Set it free.
(b) Find it some food.
(c) Pick it up.
(d) Take it away.

5. What do the men immediately do when Sykes and Bertha arrive at the store when they are about to cut into the watermelon?
(a) They put away the watermelon and the knives.
(b) They go inside the store.
(c) They walk off down the road carrying the watermelon with them.
(d) They offer the pair a slice of watermelon.

Short Answer Questions

1. To what animal does Dave compare Bertha after she has left the store with Sykes?

2. When Delia is described as trying to avoid meeting places in town, what does the narrator say she is trying to accomplish?

3. What kind of silence does the narrator say falls on the porch when Sykes and Bertha arrive at the store?

4. What does Old Man Anderson suggest that the men do to Sykes and Bertha in Lake Howell swamp?

5. What beverage does Sykes drink slowly and deliberately before he responds to Delia's request that he remove the snake?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author demonstrate the village's viewpoint regarding Sykes's keeping of the rattlesnake?

2. In what way does Sykes accuse Delia of being insincere about her fear of snakes when he brings home the rattlesnake?

3. What arguments do the men present when they are trying to get Joe Clarke to bring out a watermelon for them to share?

4. What is Delia's reason for not trying to get rid of Bertha in some way in order to solve the problems in her marriage?

5. When Old Man Anderson suggests that the men kill Sykes, what is the men's reaction?

6. What plans does Sykes make with Bertha and what is the significance of these plans?

7. What two differing reasons does Sykes give for why he was able to catch the six-foot rattlesnake in the first place?

8. What does Sykes mean when he tells Delia not to ask him for anything and comments on her attempt to "goin' roun' trying 'tuh be so damn asterperious"? (6)

9. For how long has Bertha been in Eatonville and how does she support herself?

10. What is the significance of the snake baring its "scimitar" (6)-like fangs at Delia?

(see the answer keys)

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