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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 Joyce feel towards Imani?

2. What's the first thing Ava notices about Joyce when she greets her?

3. What do Joyce and Ava do the night Gerry came over?

4. What kind of encounter does Ava have with two young men after she got her medicine?

5. Where does Eddie invite Ava for the evening?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Joyce and Ava do the night Gerry brought the envelope to the house?

2. What has Reverend Anderson sent Joyce and why?

3. What did Ava find out about Reverend Anderson and what were the consequences?

4. Why has Gerry Anderson come over to Joyce's and what is Ava's reaction?

5. What does Eddie do about Frank and Mattie?

6. What kind of people did Ava hang with and what was Ava's main problem with that social circle?

7. What do Joyce and Ava mean by the word tumbling and how did it that meaning come about?

8. What does Ava think and what does she see when they drop off the young girl and baby?

9. How are the two sisters reacting to Imani's presence in the house?

10. Where does Ava live at the beginning of the book and what kind of benefits does that place offer?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The minister's wife symbolizes a large part of the nation's population, including a few religious fundamentalists, who think that people bring AIDS on themselves and probably deserve it as payment for immoral behavior.

1. What do you think is meant by this statement? Use examples from the book to support your answer.

2. If one said that anyone with AIDS deserve it would you think that would mean that people with colon cancer deserved it because they didn't eat enough fiber, or people with liver cancer deserved it from drinking, or people with diabetes deserved it from eating too many sweets, etc.? Explain your reasoning and use examples from the book to support your thinking.

Essay Topic 2

Ava is re-learning love in her attachment to Imani and finds herself capable of more than she had ever dreamed possible.

1. What do you think this statement means? Use examples from the book to support your answer.

2. Do you think an adult can learn anything from a baby? Why or why not?

3. Do you think someone can "forget" love and have to "re-learn" it? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

After all the lessons and social commentary throughout the book, the author finishes with the most hopeful one of all: the fact that there are possibilities for new beginnings.

1. What do you think is meant by this statement? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Describe a new beginning you or someone you know has had. Show how it might relate to the characters in this book.

3. Why do you think beginning a new path in life takes courage? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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