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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 kind of water animal does Ruth say Frances' family ate?

2. Where do James' siblings say his real mother is?

3. What does Ruth have to do in the morning before school?

4. Which of the following subjects does Ruth not learn at home?

5. What do the children eat at Daddy's cousin's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Ruth and her family live in America when they first arrived?

2. Describe what happens when Ruth asks James to take the milk back to the shop.

3. What is the state of black people's lives in the 1930s?

4. How does Ruth's friend, Frances, support her?

5. How does the 1960s black power affect James in Chapter 3?

6. What happens to James when his mother forgets to pick him up from kindergarten?

7. Why did James think his mother was strange?

8. How does Peter change Ruth's life?

9. Describe the character of Daddy.

10. How do things begin to go downhill for James when Hunter Jordan dies?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the following and write how they developed James as a person:

1) His relationship with Hunter

2) His experiments with drugs and crime

3) His time spent in Louisville

4) Moving to Delaware

Essay Topic 2

Pick a character from the novel and discuss his goals and motives. Does he achieve his motive? Why? Does he share similar goals and motives with other characters? Do his goals clash with other characters? How do the characters' goals and motives affect their interaction with each other?

Essay Topic 3

Why do the students think it is important for James to find out about his mother's past? How has his mother hiding her past affected him?

(see the answer keys)

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