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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 is the plant that Precious brings into the classroom supposed to be representative of?

2. What does Precious do after Ms. Weiss leaves the office to get her a Coke?

3. What does Precious begin thinking about as she gets older?

4. What does Precious write about in a poem?

5. What does Precious' file suggest she should look into pursuing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Precious' file say about Precious and what is she afraid her file could do to her?

2. How does Precious feel about her second child, Abdul?

3. When Mary comes to visit Precious at the Harlem halfway house, what does Precious understand about her?

4. What kind of things happen to Precious and Abdul when Mrs. Butter sends them to stay at the armory?

5. What does Precious learn about Ms. Rain and how does it help correct a previous misconception she had?

6. What does Precious come to realize about her classmates and Ms. Rain after she learns she has HIV?

7. How does Precious feel about her counselor, Ms. Weiss, and how does their first session go?

8. What is Precious worried about concerning Abdul's first birthday and school?

9. When Ms. Rain asks the girls to write fantasies about their lives, what does Precious imagine her life being like?

10. What does Ms. Rain suggest to Precious whenPrecious writes to her from the hospital?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is the ending of Push negative or positive? What kind of message is Sapphire trying to send to the reader? Support your answer with specific examples from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Precious has an obsession with ugliness. How does Precious equate ugliness with black people and being black? Where does she see ugliness? How do these views affect her views on white people? Use specific examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Precious has encounters with two people whom she tries to seek out later when terrible things happen to her. Who are these people and why are they so significant to Precious' life, although playing minor roles in the novel? Why do these characters impact Precious?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 847 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample