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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 type of cancer is Ruth diagnosed with in this chapter?

2. Where does Ruth decide to move to in this chapter?

3. Which of Ruth's siblings lives in Brooklyn?

4. In what state is Andrew buried?

5. Where does David work?

Short Essay Questions

1. What problems does James say he had as a child of mixed race?

2. How does Rocky try to take advantage of Ruth?

3. How does James feel about his father?

4. What problems do Ruth and Andrew have getting married?

5. Describe Halina's time in an underground prison.

6. How does Ruth cope with her abortion?

7. Describe the blood sacrifice of a chicken.

8. Describe the wedding James and Ruth attend in this chapter.

9. Summarize the book.

10. How is Ruth's life getting better at the age of sixty five?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What events in James' early life influenced him to become a musician? How different do the students think James' life would have been if she had not grown up in poverty?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Discuss differences between the novel and autobiography formats. What are the main elements of a novel? What are the main elements of an autobiography? What can novelists express that an autobiographer cannot? How can autobiographies keep to the facts while still maintaining a level of entertainment?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 800 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample