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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. Where does Shug own a beautiful new home?

2. Why don’t the Olinka people educate their daughters?

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

4. Where do Mary Agnes and Grady live?

5. Which of Corinne’s possessions are given to Nettie after her death?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does Shug picture God?

4. How is the outside world changing Olinka?

5. Who is Mary Agnes?

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

7. What does Celie imagine that God looks like, and how does this affect her relationship with Him?

8. How does life change for Celie when she moves to Memphis?

9. Why does Millie think Sofia is ungrateful?

10. How does Shug convince Celie not to kill Mr.?

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 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

What is significant about the day that Celie and Nettie are reunited? What major obstacles did they overcome to be together again in America? How does Celie feel at the end of the novel, and what message does this send to the reader about the value of family? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

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