Sonny's Blues Test | Mid-Book Test - Hard

This set of Lesson Plans consists of approximately 49 pages of tests, essay questions, lessons, and other teaching materials.
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Sonny's Blues Test | Mid-Book Test - Hard

This set of Lesson Plans consists of approximately 49 pages of tests, essay questions, lessons, and other teaching materials.
Buy the Sonny's Blues Lesson Plans
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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 9 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What instrument had the narrator’s uncle played?

2. To which of the following does the narrator compare Sonny’s childhood acquaintance?

3. In which of the following had the narrator’s uncle worked?

4. At what level of school does the narrator teach?

5. What instrument does the narrator associate with Sunday afternoons with his parents?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the narrator’s earliest memories of Sonny?

2. For what is Sonny arrested?

3. Why does the narrator note being glad of Isabel’s presence when he brings Sonny home?

4. What outcome does Sonny’s old acquaintance foresee for him?

5. Why does the narrator note that Sonny and his father had not gotten along?

6. Why does the narrator note having taken up residence where he did?

7. Why had the narrator not known he had an uncle?

8. Why does the narrator posit his students are full of rage?

9. What does the narrator note would happen on Sunday evenings with his parents when someone turned on a light?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Conversely, given demonstrated efforts toward censorship in a number of countries, what would likely prompt bans of “Sonny’s Blues”? By which groups? Why?

Essay Topic 2

In the short story, some characters are given no name, some are given but one name, and still others are referenced by title. What significance, if any, accrues to patterns of naming in the novel? If no significance accrues, what purpose might be served by the patterns of naming in the novel? How does “Sonny’s Blues” bear as much out?

Essay Topic 3

To what genre other than jazz fiction might “Sonny’s Blues” be considered to belong? What in the text supports that identification? How does it do so?

(see the answer keys)

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