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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 doesn’t Celie like the idea of Shug and Germaine dating?

2. What is the name of Corrine’s husband?

3. What is unusual about Sofia’s mother’s funeral?

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

5. How does Corinne die?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why is Sofia’s mother’s funeral unusual?

3. What is the “surprise” that Shug brings home for the family at Christmas, and how does Mr. react?

4. How has Grady’s life changed since moving to Memphis?

5. Who is Mary Agnes?

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

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

8. What is Nettie’s first impression of the Senegalese people she meets during her travels?

9. Who is Germaine, and how does Celie feel about him?

10. How did Nettie come to live in Africa?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Nettie’s life change when she moves in with Samuel and Corinne? What suspicions do the reverend and his wife have about their new charge? How are these suspicions ultimately resolved, and how does that change Nettie’s life once again? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the revelation that Pa is not Celie’s true father. How does this realization change her life, and how does she feel about herself when the truth is revealed. How did Celie’s birth parents die, and how might her life have been different had she grown up with them rather than with Pa? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the theme of fatherhood in the novel. Which character do you think is the best father in the novel? Why? Which character do you think is the worst? In what ways can you see parenting styles, specifically fatherhood, affecting characters as they mature into adulthood? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 916 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample