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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What simile does the narrator use to describe the snake's fangs curving into the covering of its soap box?
(a) Door latches.
(b) Scimitars.
(c) String bows.
(d) Needles.

2. What kind of silence does the narrator say falls on the porch when Sykes and Bertha arrive at the store?
(a) Judgmental.
(b) Hushed.
(c) Determined.
(d) Awkward.

3. What is NOT one event listed as taking place during the dog days of summer in Eatonville?
(a) Swimming holes drying up.
(b) Leaves browning.
(c) Grass withering.
(d) Snakes shedding.

4. What does the narrator say happens to Delia's fury as she regards the snake just before she confronts Sykes at the dinner table about getting rid of the snake?
(a) Grows larger.
(b) Builds into something resembling contempt.
(c) Dissapates.
(d) Grows bloodier.

5. How long is the rattlesnake that Sykes brings home?
(a) Five feet.
(b) Six feet.
(c) Four feet.
(d) Seven feet.

6. What two items does Sykes tell Joe Clarke he has come to buy?
(a) Pork belly and coffee.
(b) Pecans and molasses.
(c) Coffee and bread.
(d) Eggs and maple syrup.

7. Who owns the disreputable boarding house in Eatonville?
(a) Sally Anderson.
(b) Della Lewis.
(c) Joe Clarke.
(d) Elijah Moseley.

8. What reason does Sykes provide for his conclusion that the snake would never bite Delia?
(a) Because the snake knows it would be killed.
(b) Because snakes do not bite masculine women.
(c) Because the snake would not want to risk breaking his fangs on her bony legs.
(d) Because the snake would recognize her as a fellow demon.

9. Delia tells Sykes that she now hates him to the same degree that what?
(a) That Sykes loves Bertha.
(b) That she used to love Sykes.
(c) That Sykes hates her.
(d) She hates the devil.

10. What skill does Sykes learn from a Northern white woman?
(a) How to run a store.
(b) How to raise chickens.
(c) How to read.
(d) How to drive a car.

11. When Sykes refuses to take the snake away and says that he does not have to do anything besides take a particular action, what action does he say he must do?
(a) Scream.
(b) Laugh.
(c) Die.
(d) Kneel.

12. When Delia confronts Sykes at the dinner table about removing the snake, what two behaviors of his does she say she has put up with for many years?
(a) Starving her and beating her.
(b) Ignoring her and being unfaithful to her.
(c) Starving her and yelling at her.
(d) Hating her and beating her.

13. What does the narrator say streams down like a "million hot arrows" (5) during the time when Delia and Sykes are not speaking to one another?
(a) The raindrops.
(b) The rays of the sun.
(c) The heat.
(d) The tense moments.

14. What does Sykes say Delia looks like to him when he tells Delia he has hated her for years?
(a) Like the devil's doll-baby.
(b) Like the devil's daughter.
(c) Like the devil's plaything.
(d) Like the devil's conscience.

15. What does the narrator say the sun has done to turn July to August?
(a) Burned it into August.
(b) Smashed it into August.
(c) Scorched it into August.
(d) Melted it into August.

Short Answer Questions

1. What causes the snake to come alive and start to rattle incessantly?

2. What does the narrator say about how Bertha goes about making Delia's goal impossible to achieve?

3. How much does Joe Clarke ask each man to give him in order to pay for the watermelon they will all share?

4. How often does Sykes say he could catch a big rattlesnake if he wanted to?

5. Who first entreats Joe to bring a melon from the store and to slice it up for the men?

(see the answer keys)

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