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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 don’t the Olinka people educate their daughters?

2. How does Shug react when she learns that Celie is no longer writing letters to God?

3. Who buys the Olinka land, threatening to take everything away from the villagers?

4. Who does Mary Agnes ask to look after Suzy Q while she is away?

5. Why didn’t the previous missionaries in Olinka participate in the traditional welcoming rituals?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Millie think Sofia is ungrateful?

2. How did Nettie come to live in Africa?

3. What does Nettie do her first evening in Olinka?

4. Why did Shug’s parents kick her out of the house when she was growing up?

5. How did the reverend and his wife treat Nettie when they first met her?

6. How does Shug picture God?

7. Who are Nettie and Celie’s birth parents?

8. How do the Olinka people first react to their new missionaries (including Nettie)?

9. Who did Pa marry after Celie and Nettie moved out, and what does this suggest about his personality?

10. What is the most eye-opening experience for Nettie when she is in New York?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Celie’s life change when she moves to Memphis? How does her relationship with Shug change, and what does she realize about herself when Shug is on tour? How do the townsfolk react when Celie returns home for Sofia’s mother’s funeral? What is significant about their reaction? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Describe Celie’s relationship with Shug. How does it grow and change over the course of the novel? Would you consider them more like sisters or lovers? Why? What is the difference between these two types of relationships? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

What is the main difference between life in Olinka and life in America? How do the Olinka people react to the new missionaries when they arrive? How does this dynamic inform the race relations of America, where Shug and Celie are living? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 939 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample