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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. In what year does Samuel win a land lottery in Georgia?

2. Which of the following restaurants does Ailey frequent while at graduate school?

3. What is Dante’s middle name?

4. Whom of the following is Ailey’s neighbor in North Carolina?

5. Which of the following is the name of Samuel’s mother?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Whitcomb explain his pressing Ailey harder than other students?

2. Explicate the significance of the label “left-handed cabin.”

3. How does Claudius earn the money he uses to secure his freedom?

4. What is the last thing Lydia sees before dying?

5. How does Ailey address Rebecca’s questions about the Pinchard descent of her own family?

6. For what reason is Lonny Maxwell dismissed from teaching?

7. Why does Aggie purpose to send Nick and his family into hiding?

8. How does Lady explain the departure of her parents to her children?

9. Why does Samuel hire Holcomb as overseer?

10. Why does Whitcomb chide Ailey for her use of “we” in class?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is “the long-haired lady” Ailey remarks upon seeing throughout her life? How does the text indicate as much?

Essay Topic 2

Sources attest to the presence of The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois on bestseller lists. Assuming that sales figures reflect popularity, what accounts for the popularity of the novel? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

Section divisions, their titles, and chapter numbering / division schema are all components of paratext. That is, they are not part of the text but are associated with it closely and affect its meaning. What significance, if any, accrues to the chapter-numbering scheme at work in The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois? If there is significance, how does that significance manifest? If there is not, what in the novel supports the paratextual divisions that are in place?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 563 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample