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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. What country does Nettie travel to with the hopes of appealing to the government?

2. What has changed about Mr. in the time that Celie has been in Memphis?

3. What is Celie’s biggest fear when she thinks about her children?

4. How did the reverend and his wife treat Nettie when she first arrived?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. Who is Mary Agnes?

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

10. How does Shug identify Nettie’s hidden letters?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Growing up, both Shug and Celie were told that they would amount to nothing: Celie was told she was ugly and Shug was told she was evil. How do you see these messages affecting the two women as they matured into adulthood? How did these messages ultimately bring the two women together? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

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 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 977 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample