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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 word has Hope said, causing his mother to hit him with a switch, in the poem "The Right Way to Speak"?

2. Where had Mary Anne's sister recently moved in the poem "Ohio Behind Us"?

3. What is the maiden name of Jacqueline Woodson's mother?

4. What does the poet describe topping the letter "J" with in "The Beginning"?

5. What form are the poems of Brown Girl Dreaming?

Short Essay Questions

1. What story is related from Grandma Georgiana's perspective in "Other People’s Memory"?

2. How does the author describe her grandmother's rules in "The Right Way to Speak"?

3. How is Odell described in the poem "Uncle Odell"? Who was named for Odell?

4. How is life in Greenville described in the poem "Ohio Behind Us"?

5. How is the unfolding Civil Rights Movement described in the poem "South Carolina at War"?

6. How does the author describe her siblings in the poems "The Reader" and "Hope" from Part 1?

7. How is the history of slavery described in Jackie's maternal grandparents' ancestry in "The Garden"?

8. How does the author describe her ancestry in "February 12, 1963"?

9. What conflict is described in the poem "A Girl Named Jack"?

10. Who are the people described in "The Almost Friends"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss examples of irony and foreshadowing in Brown Girl Dreaming. What is ironic about Mary Anne’s impending return for her children at the end Part 2? How does the author foreshadow Gunnar's death?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss segregation in the South in 1963 and the setting of Greenville, South Carolina, at this time. How big was Greenville? How has the city changed in the past 50 years? When was Greenville desegregated?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss some of the writers, poets, and activists that have influenced author Jacqueline Woodson. How are these figures described in the poetry of Brown Girl Dreaming?

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