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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 does Birdie's mother discuss with her friends in the basement?

2. Why is Birdie invited to be a part of Maria's group?

3. Who is Cole Lee?

4. How are Birdie and Cole different?

5. What is a WASP?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Sandy finance her flight from the FBI?

2. Describe Sandy's encounter with Redbone in Chapter 4.

3. Why does Birdie identify most closely with her black heritage?

4. Why does a white couple call the police on Deck when he and Birdie are alone together in the park?

5. Why does Birdie grieve over her Aunt Dot's move to India?

6. What is in the present that Deck and Cole leave for Birdie?

7. What happens in Sandy's basement after she and Deck separate?

8. How do Deck and Sandy meet?

9. According to Sandy, what is a WASP?

10. Why does Sandy dye her hair copper?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Sandy's development of paranoia after she and Deck separate. How does Sandy's paranoia motivate her? What effect does it have on other characters and how do they react to Sandy? Is her paranoia genuine? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

What are the physical, social, and emotional effects of Birdie's time spent in hiding? How does Sandy's insistence that Birdie pass as a white Jewish girl affect Birdie's character development? How does Birdie's forced secret identity affect her relationship with her mother?

Essay Topic 3

What is the value placed on skin color in the novel? How does skin color relate to racial perceptions and attitudes? How does the attitude prevalent towards skin color in the novel affect the education, social acceptance, and emotional well-being of the characters in the novel? How might perceptions about skin color affect Birdie's future children? Cole's future children?

(see the answer keys)

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