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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. When Ava wakes up in the middle of the night and finds a pigeon outside her window, what sound does she hear first?

2. While exhibiting signs of dementia, Grandma Martha uses the word "colored" (196) to refer to which character?

3. Charlotte tells Josephine the day of Vern's visit to Major that she hopes Vern did not inspire what feeling in Josephine?

4. How long after Jupiter's arrival does Missus's mother-in-law visit Wildwood?

5. Sally says to Josephine, "I'd never to do anything to hurt you, Josephine. You're like a" what "to me" (149)?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Josephine deal with the loneliness she experiences during one particular period of 1924?

2. For what reason does Domingo encourage his wife Winnie to be less brave?

3. What news does Ava receive when she is awakened out of a deep sleep by a troubling phone call?

4. For what act does Ava feel gratitude toward Grandma Martha in relation to the period just after King's birth?

5. What phenomenon does Gladys report to Ava that she has been experiencing since she had to go to the hospital?

6. What action does Sally ask Josephine to take that Josephine then appears to have taken one month later?

7. Describe an instance when the theme of hope is presented as a liability.

8. How does Ava feel after she leads a meeting of her doula mother Gladys's pregnant clients during Gladys's recuperation?

9. Which people begin to stop visiting Josephine all at once, causing her to "go days without seeing another face" (175) in 1924?

10. What observation does Link make about the possibility of black people being friends with white people in 1924 America?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Perform a biographical criticism of The Revisioners by researching Sexton's life and work. Be sure to create a strong and specific claim focused on this particular book and then support that claim with quotes from the book and from your research of Sexton.

Essay Topic 2

Explicate the theme of faith within The Revisioners. What is Sexton’s message regarding faith and how do you know?

Essay Topic 3

Sensory details are used frequently by Sexton in order to create vivid pictures of each character's progression through the narrative of The Revisioners. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Sexton’s creation of vivid characters to populate the narrative.

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