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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 Pa initially react when he first sees Celie on his property?

2. What is Shug’s real name?

3. Why does Nettie believe God sent her to live with the reverend and his family?

4. What does Grady call Shug, which deeply annoys Celie?

5. How does Nettie react to the jungle surrounding Olinka?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Shug picture God?

2. Why is Olivia the only girl at the Olinka School?

3. How does Celie react when she learns that Mr. has been hiding Nettie’s letters?

4. How does Pa react when Celie tells him that she knows the truth about her birth parents?

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

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

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

8. How did Nettie come to live in Africa?

9. How does Billy get hurt on the day that Celie visits Sofia at the mayor’s house?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is God represented in the novel? Why is it significant that Celie writes letters to him, and then abruptly stops? How are Celie and Shug’s views of God different? How do their views ultimately relate back to the novel’s title? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Why do you think Walker chose to name Celie’s husband Mr. _________? What message might she be sending the reader by not giving him a last name? In journalistic writing, last names are often omitted to protect certain identities. Might this tradition have influenced Walker in some way? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

Compare / contrast the role of white women and black women in the novel. How are their lives the same? How are they different? Why is it significant that Sofia, a strong black woman, would work in Millie, a weak white woman’s house? What do each of the women learn from this experience? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 925 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample