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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 Mary accuse Samson of stealing?

2. What does Mary wish Dick would install in the house?

3. What does Samson do after being punished?

4. What is the extraordinary thing about the murder?

5. How did Mary wear her hair?

Short Essay Questions

1. When and why was Mary so fortunate? How did she feel about her good fortune?

2. How does Marston feel about the murder? How does he feel about the way Slatter and the Sergeant talk to him?

3. Describe Mary's background and early childhood.

4. How does Mary feel as she and Dick pull up to the farm?

5. How does Mary change Dick's house? How does Dick feel about this?

6. Why is it strange that no one discusses the murder?

7. What does Dick usually do when he fights with Mary?

8. Of what is every white woman in South Africa brought up to be afraid?

9. Describe the state of Dick and Mary's romantic relationship.

10. How does Mary's perspective on her new life change?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that discusses how the novel demonstrates the weakness of white rule in Africa. Be sure to address:

1) The dependence of whites on black labor.

2) The hypocrisy of white rule.

3) Moral arguments used in the novel, with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that describes the parenting done by characters in the novel and how it influences them and other characters. Examples include Mary's bad parents damaging her ability to relate to others, or Charlie Slatter's jealousy towards the privileges of his children.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay on the role of nature in THE GRASS IS SINGING, describing several scenes from the novel where nature plays a key role and addressing the relationship that two or more characters have with the natural world around them.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 870 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample