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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 is the name of the city Audre lives in while in Mexico?

2. What kind of business does Eudora own?

3. What is the name of the woman who comes to live with Audre and Muriel?

4. What job does Audre find in Chapter 26?

5. What is the name of the second interlude in the book?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Audre describe her treatment in society as a black woman in comparison with her white lesbian friends?

2. What causes Audre to drop out of college?

3. How does Audre describe her job at the New York Public Library?

4. How is Muriel's affair with Toni described in the book?

5. How are the "closed-shop" laws described in the book?

6. How is Audre's involvement in the Committee to Free the Rosenbergs described?

7. How does Audre's friend Lynn cause problems between her and Muriel when she moves in with them?

8. How is the Interlude: The Last of My Childhood Nightmares described in the book?

9. How is Audre's mental state described after she moves to Stamford?

10. How is Audre's relationship with Bea described in the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author makes an interesting choice in the book by highlighting many true historical events throughout the text and offers her own opinions and reactions to them.

1) Why does the author often combine her own personal experiences alongside historical events such as Pearl Harbor?

2) What can we learn about the importance that political freedom has for the author based on her portrayal of McCarthyism in the book?

3) What can we learn about Audre's political and social beliefs based on her support of the Rosenbergs while they are on trial, especially given the ways she is able to identify with them?

Essay Topic 2

The novel's genre offers many points of discussion with both its autobiographical and mythological material.

1) What aspects of the book appear to be purely autobiographical regarding the author's life?

2) What reasons would the author have for using mythological facts within the book alongside her personal accounts, does this help fill in gaps in the text?

3) How is the inclusion of both autobiographical and mythological methods in the book able to create a more well rounded portrayal of the author's life journey?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the importance that poetry and storytelling have in the book. How does the author use these devices as an outlet to express her own frustrations and desires about her social surroundings and humanity in general?

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