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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. Why is Ed in the new city in the story When We All Get to Heaven?

2. What was the narrator's sister particularly fascinated with regarding Howard Hughes?

3. What does Ed usually wear that most other men do not wear?

4. What does Cicero tell his uncle that they can keep without selling?

5. Which company owned all of Hughes's real estate?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Francesca assume Idol's antics with Ed are all about in the story When We All Get to Heaven?

2. In I Thought I Heard the Shuffle of Angels' Feet, why do you think Cicero decides not to sell his family's land?

3. Why does Ed Phelps go to the Carnegie Deli in the story When We All Get to Heaven?

4. What is the narrator's mother in the story The Eternal Glory That Is Ham Hocks pleased about regarding his career path?

5. How does Cicero feel about his uncle, Dax Cross?

6. How does Ed get caught up in Billy Idol's entourage?

7. What does a man in the street in New York City hand Ed that puts Ed off in the story When We All Get to Heaven?

8. Why does Inez Cross Chasten choose not to tell her husband, ever, about Howard Hughes's proposition to her?

9. Why does Inez Cross Chasten refuse to cook for Howard Hughes?

10. Why does Lazarus Barden II beat J.C. Stokes in the story Ain't No Sunshine?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are some tactics Kenan uses to connect separate stories in this collection? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Why do you think Kenan writes several different endings in the story The Acts of Velmajean Swearington Hoyt and the New City of God, and why do you think he uses this approach with this particular story? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

How do you think the townspeople collectively perceive and act towards Percy Terrell, and how does Kenan communicate this dynamic to the reader? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

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