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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 did the mother do with the baby?

2. Where does Joyce's group meet?

3. What type of job did Ava have?

4. How does Ava feel about the meals Joyce and Eddie cook?

5. What was Joyce told in July about her Sewing Circus?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ava do with Aretha and how does Ava feel about it?

2. What kind of romance issue has come up for Ava in July?

3. Who visits Joyce regularly and what do they do?

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

5. What does Eddie tell Ava about his jail sentence?

6. Who is Aretha and what are are hopes for her future?

7. What is the best thing that happens in Eddie, Joyce and Ava's life that summer?

8. What do Joyce and Ava find in Johnny Mack's house that reminds them of the past and what does it make them think about?

9. What is the news about the baby Joyce helped with the night Ava arrived and what happened to her?

10. What does the minister's wife tell Joyce she can't do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Time makes way for the next generation, as evidenced by Johnny Mack's move to the nursing home and the preparation for the Sewing Circus to move into his house.

1. Do you think this older people having to go to nursing homes says anything about how this society views the old? Why or why not?

2. What do you think might be a better alternative than nursing homes for older people?

3. If you had to see one of your parents live in a nursing home how would you feel?

Essay Topic 2

The theme of rising above adversity continues to thread throughout the book, and the author reveals some of the mechanisms that people use to accomplish that feat.

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

2. What do you think are some of the mechanisms people use to cope with adversity? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Cleage makes the case for an alternate view on the stereotypes assigned to black people by introducing people like Joyce, Ava and Eddie, whose goodness may be challenged at times but is always at the core of what they do.

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

2. What do you think people can do to not judge others by stereotypes? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. How do you think stereotypes get started and how can they be stopped? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,024 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample