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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. How does Corinne die?

2. What is the “big surprise” Shug reveals at Christmas?

3. How did Celie’s real birth father die?

4. What is the highest position for a woman in the Olinka village?

5. What part of Tashi’s body is scarred in a coming-of-age ritual?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Celie react to the news that Pa has died?

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

3. Why was Shug so mean to Celie when she first moved in?

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

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

6. Where are Celie’s parents buried, and what marks their headstones?

7. Why does Millie think Sofia is ungrateful?

8. What coming-of-age ritual does Tashi partake in, and what is the reaction to her participation?

9. How has Corinne’s attitude changed toward Nettie since moving to Africa?

10. How is the outside world changing Olinka?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Discuss Celie’s sexuality. How was she first introduced to sex, and how did that introduction affect her future relationships? What did Shug teach Celie about her sexuality, and how did this lesson change Celie for the rest of the novel? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

Describe Squeak’s character growth. How is her character described when she is first introduced to the reader? What major event changes the way she views herself, and how does this affect her choices later in life? Why does Squeak revert back to her birth name, Mary Agnes? In what ways is Mary Agnes (Squeak) still a victim at the end of the novel, even though she has taken back her independence? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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