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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Delia pay little attention to the soap box when she first sees it?

2. What simile does the narrator use to describe the snake's fangs curving into the covering of its soap box?

3. What adverb is used to indicate the manner in which Sykes pushes Delia when he wants her to see the rattlesnake he has brought home?

4. What item does Sykes NOT buy from Joe Clarke's store during his visit there?

5. What reason does Sykes provide for his conclusion that the snake would never bite Delia?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which elements of Bertha's character are disparaged by the group of men at Joe Clarke's store once she leaves with Sykes?

2. How does the snake's behavior change once it has taken two or three days to digest its large meal of frogs?

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

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

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

6. 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?

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

8. What is Hurston's purpose for alluding to Gethsemane and the rocks of Calvary during the period of conflict with Sykes?

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

10. 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)

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author's use of figurative language within the story Sweat and how the use of these literary devices helps her to get across particular thematic elements of the story.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss how the author uses various characterization methods to depict the protagonist of the story, Delia.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's use of song as a symbol within the narrative of the story.

(see the answer keys)

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