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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who lets a bullwhip fall onto Delia's shoulders in order to scare her?
(a) Bertha.
(b) Sykes.
(c) Dave.
(d) Joe.

2. What gesture does Delia make toward the men on Joe's porch as she passes by?
(a) She makes the sign of the evil eye.
(b) She nods.
(c) She waves.
(d) She turns away.

3. Against what object does Sykes strike his match?
(a) The matchbox.
(b) The sole of his boot.
(c) His corduroy breeches.
(d) The fireplace mantel.

4. Where does Sykes say he has been when Delia asks him where he has been with her horse and buckboard?
(a) He does not say.
(b) At church.
(c) At the corner store.
(d) With Bertha.

5. What adjective does the narrator use to describe Delia's pose when she picks up the object after Sykes threatens to hit her?
(a) Murderous.
(b) Defensive.
(c) Menacing.
(d) Foreboding.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Joe Lindsay says that there ought to be a law about Sykes's behavior, he says that Sykes "ain't fit tuh carry guts to a" (3) what?

2. The bullwhip is described by the narrator as long, round, limp, and what?

3. When one of the men's wives had repelled Sykes's advances, she had told him that Delia worked so hard that she bet everything in the house tasted like sweat and what?

4. What does Delia say Sykes had brought to their marriage?

5. Jim says that Sykes has always been crazy about what kind of women?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Sykes react to Delia's questions whenever she asks him a question?

2. What is the reason for the listlessness of the men who gather on Joe Clarke's porch?

3. How does the author depict Sykes as being childish?

4. What is meant by the piece of narration that states, "It was plain that the breaches must remain agape" (6)?

5. At what point does the author show the first change in Delia's character and how does she portray this change?

6. In what season does the story begin its narrative and what does this choice by the author symbolize?

7. Why does Delia stay up so much later on Sunday nights than on any other night of the week and how does Sykes find fault with this practice?

8. What is ironic about Sykes's stating that his reason for ordering Delia to cease taking in laundry from white folks is that he has promised God that she will do so?

9. What is the significance of Joe Clarke's pronouncement that some men treat women like pieces of sugar-cane?

10. What is the significance of Delia's comment that she does not want to fight with Sykes because she has just come back from church services?

(see the answer keys)

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