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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. On what occasion has Ms. Johnson offered Dee a quilt in the past?
2. How does Dee respond when her mother asks her what happened to Dee?
3. Once Maggie weds, what is Ms. Johnson free to sit in her yard and do?
4. In what is the Johnson home located?
5. Why advantage does Ms. Johnson think her substitute gift has over the quilts Wangero wants?
Short Essay Questions
1. Explain Dee's feelings about white people.
2. Are the Johnsons in "Everyday Use" typical or atypical for rural southern Black families living in the era in which the story is set?
3. How does Dee differ from her mother and sister?
4. Alice Walker never names the narrator of this story. The reader is told only that she is a member of the Johnson family. What might the author of "Everyday Use" have intended to convey about the character of Ms. Johnson by not naming her?
5. Why are the hairstyles of Hakim-a-barber and Dee/Wangero described in such detail in the story while Maggie and Ms. Johnson's hairstyles are not described?
6. What is the significance of Dee's always wanting to read to people in her youth?
7. In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," who is the antagonist of the story and what identifies that character as the antagonist?
8. What kind of life has Ms. Johnson lived?
9. What is Ms. Johnson's relationship with her daughter Maggie like?
10. What does Hakim-a-barber's car indicate about his character and Dee's?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Grandma Dee, Aunt Dicie or Big Dee, Grandpa Jarrell, Great-Grandpa Ezra and John Thomas are mentioned in "Everyday Use" but never appear on stage. Discuss these minor characters from the story and how the author uses them to illustrate her themes of family and community. Are there any other themes you think the author uses the characters to convey? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
Essay Topic 2
Ms. Johnson is the narrator of "Everyday Use." Do you think she is the most appropriate narrator for this story? Why or why not? Discuss her effectiveness as narrator and how the story would change if Dee or Maggie narrated it instead. Cite examples from the text to support your conclusions.
Essay Topic 3
Compare and contrast Ms. Johnson's relationship with Maggie and her relationship with Dee in "Everyday Use." Which daughter do you think is Ms. Johnson's favorite, or do you think she loves them both equally? Since Maggie is the daughter who stays in the rural south and Dee is the daughter who escapes, what do you think the author is saying through these characters about the identity conflict African Americans experienced after the civil rights movement? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.
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This section contains 1,339 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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