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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. What is Maureen Peal said to have “even bought and liked” in Part III?

2. Where did Cholly’s mother abandon him when he was four days old?

3. According to Frieda in Part III, Mrs. Cain told her mother that Woodward did what?

4. What did Frieda’s father throw at Mr. Henry, knocking him off the porch, in Part IV?

5. Who is described as a “competent midwife and decisive diagnostician” during Aunt Jimmy’s illness in Part IV?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mr. Henry tell Claudia and Frieda about his unexpected guests in Part III? What do the girls do?

2. How does the narrator describe her father’s face in the opening of “Winter”? What imagery is used?

3. Where do Frieda and Claudia go to find Pecola after their exchange with Maginot Line in “Spring”? How is this setting described?

4. How does the narrator describe the blooming flowers and twigs in the opening of “Spring”?

5. What leads to Claudia and Frieda buying snacks at Miss Bertha’s in Part III?

6. How does the narrator distinguish the difference between “colored girls” and “black girls” in “See the Cat…”?

7. How does Mrs. Breedlove respond when she finds the spilled cobbler in “Spring”?

8. How is Maureen Peal described when she is first introduced in “Winter”?

9. Why does Frieda tell Claudia has happened with Mr. Henry in the beginning of Part IV?

10. How are Pauline Williams’s early years described in “See Mother…”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and analyze the author’s choice of character names in the novel. What do you think the significance is of names like “Breedlove,” “MacTeer,” and “Fisher,” among others? Do you think these names were chosen for a specific reason? If so, what reason?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss racial discrimination within black communities in the United States. How and why, in the novel, is Maureen Peal depicted as being of a higher stature because of the lighter color of her skin tone? What discrimination does Maureen face in her community and in the white community?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the major movie stars discussed in the narrative in Part II. When was Shirley Temple’s height of fame? What other actresses are discussed? What do they share in common? How is Pecola’s name related to the movies?

(see the answer keys)

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