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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. What does the narrator say happens to Delia's fury as she regards the snake just before she confronts Sykes at the dinner table about getting rid of the snake?
(a) Grows bloodier.
(b) Dissapates.
(c) Grows larger.
(d) Builds into something resembling contempt.

2. In what town does Delia attend church at the time Sykes is keeping the rattlesnake?
(a) Eatonville.
(b) Orlando.
(c) Apalachicola.
(d) Woodbridge.

3. What does the narrator say about how Bertha goes about making Delia's goal impossible to achieve?
(a) She comes to Delia's house to call Sykes out to her at the gate.
(b) She spreads gossip about Delia in town.
(c) She talks the banker into calling in Delia's entire mortgage to be paid off.
(d) She engages Delia in conversation whenever she can.

4. What adjective does Sykes delightedly use to describe Bertha's shape?
(a) Chubby.
(b) Meaty.
(c) Statuesque.
(d) Portly.

5. What two activities does the narrator say that Delia and Sykes now do in silence since their complete impasse?
(a) Work and sleep.
(b) Sleep and eat.
(c) Read and work.
(d) Eat and rest.

Short Answer Questions

1. What causes the snake to come alive and start to rattle incessantly?

2. Before Delia begs Sykes to kill the rattlesnake he has brought home, what does she ask him to do with it?

3. What do the men immediately do when Sykes and Bertha arrive at the store when they are about to cut into the watermelon?

4. What object does Walter say is best to use when charming a rattlesnake?

5. What does the narrator say the sun has done to turn July to August?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Delia react once Sykes both refuses to remove the rattlesnake and threatens to beat her?

2. How do Delia's actions and feelings in regard to the rattlesnake change once she sees its fangs wrapped around the wire mesh of its box?

3. What argumentative method does Delia use in order to convince Sykes that he needs to take the snake away from her home?

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

6. How does Sykes go about showing the rattlesnake to Delia after he has brought it home?

7. What is ironic about Sykes's statement to Bertha that the town is his and that she can have it if she wants it?

8. What does Delia say is different about Bertha in comparison to other women with whom Sykes has had affairs?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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