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Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. When Sykes tells Delia that it is no use "puttin' on airs makin' out out lak" (6) she is feeling a certain emotion in response to the snake, what is that emotion?
(a) Bravery.
(b) Pride.
(c) Shyness.
(d) Fear.
2. What reason does Sykes provide for his conclusion that the snake would never bite Delia?
(a) Because snakes do not bite masculine women.
(b) Because the snake would not want to risk breaking his fangs on her bony legs.
(c) Because the snake would recognize her as a fellow demon.
(d) Because the snake knows it would be killed.
3. What does the narrator say the sun has done to turn July to August?
(a) Smashed it into August.
(b) Melted it into August.
(c) Scorched it into August.
(d) Burned it into August.
4. When Sykes says that one reason he caught the snake easily was because it had just had a meal, what does he say it had just eaten?
(a) Rats.
(b) Lizards.
(c) Frogs.
(d) Toads.
5. What term is used to describe the color of the rattlesnake's fangs?
(a) Jaundice-yellow.
(b) Chalky-white.
(c) Off-white.
(d) Eggshell-white.
Short Answer Questions
1. What does Delia tell Sykes he has killed by bringing the snake to the house?
2. In what town had Bertha lived previously before coming to Eatonville?
3. Before Delia begs Sykes to kill the rattlesnake he has brought home, what does she ask him to do with it?
4. What simile does the narrator use to describe the snake's fangs curving into the covering of its soap box?
5. What does Sykes say Delia looks like to him when he tells Delia he has hated her for years?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does Delia react once Sykes both refuses to remove the rattlesnake and threatens to beat her?
2. What is the significance of the snake baring its "scimitar" (6)-like fangs at Delia?
3. What two differing reasons does Sykes give for why he was able to catch the six-foot rattlesnake in the first place?
4. How do Delia's actions and feelings in regard to the rattlesnake change once she sees its fangs wrapped around the wire mesh of its box?
5. What is ironic about Sykes's statement to Bertha that the town is his and that she can have it if she wants it?
6. How does the snake's behavior change once it has taken two or three days to digest its large meal of frogs?
7. How does Delia try "to be blind and deaf" (5) to Sykes's gallivanting around town with Bertha?
8. Which elements of Bertha's character are disparaged by the group of men at Joe Clarke's store once she leaves with Sykes?
9. How does the author demonstrate the village's viewpoint regarding Sykes's keeping of the rattlesnake?
10. What is Hurston's purpose for alluding to Gethsemane and the rocks of Calvary during the period of conflict with Sykes?
This section contains 1,154 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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