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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. Which of the following groups does Moshe try to appease via theatre bookings?

2. How far is Pottstown from Reading?

3. On which street was a skeleton uncovered along with red fibers, a belt buckle, and a pendant?

4. For which of the following did Big Soap work?

5. How does the novel gloss the term “turn”?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the novel, what is the story of Moses and the burning coals?

2. What had attracted the Black population of Pottstown to Pottstown?

3. What event precipitates Bernice leaving school?

4. How does Malachi respond to the assertion that a mezuzah belongs on a door?

5. What rumor surrounds Norman Skrupskelis?

6. What does Nate use as a euphemism for his sister-in-law’s death?

7. How does Isaac stereotype Bulgarians?

8. Why does Chona have standing among the local Jewish community?

9. Why does the local Black community esteem Chona?

10. Why is Paper thought to be illiterate?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

To what other writer’s work in your experience does McBride’s seem most similar? What makes the writers similar? What differentiates them? Overall, which do you regard as doing better at the craft of writing, and why?

Essay Topic 2

Typically, an epigraph is expected to speak to or set the tone for the work it introduces. Does the epigraph of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, combined in the novel with its dedication, do so for the present novel? How or how not?

Essay Topic 3

Similarly, the lengths of chapters influence reading. What pattern of chapter-length is present in the novel, if any? What effect does the length of chapters have on the reading? How is the effect achieved?

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