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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 Janie suggest that Tea Cake get home?

2. What does Joe ask Janie to do?

3. Who does Janie compare Jody to in her speech?

4. What do Janie's neighbors want to know about her?

5. What does Janie realize she feels for her grandmother?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Logan seem to feel about the possibility of Janie leaving him?

2. Describe Janie's appearance.

3. What are some of the restrictions Jody places on Janie?

4. Describe the analogy Hurston uses to explain Janie's sexual awakening.

5. How does Janie feel about Nanny in Chapter 9?

6. What are some of the changes Joe Starks makes in the town of Eatonville?

7. Why did Joe not allow Janie to play games like checkers?

8. Describe Jody's appearance in Chapter 7.

9. What does Janie think about Joe buying the mule?

10. Explain how Janie earns the name "Alphabet."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss how the frame story (a story within a story) is used in the novel. How is it an effective storytelling tool? How does it resemble folklore or folktales? In what way can the reader better understand the story through Janie's eyes because the story is told in this way?

Essay Topic 2

How did each phase of Janie's life, from childhood through adulthood, shape her into the woman who is telling the story in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Which characters in the novel are static? Which characters are dynamic? How do the two different types of characters contribute to the evolution of the story and its central themes?

(see the answer keys)

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