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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 city does Sam leave for?

2. What kind of hat is the boy's father wearing?

3. How does Frances show her support for Ruth at dinner?

4. What happened to black men who dated white women?

5. What do the children eat at Daddy's cousin's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What incident confirms to James that the color of his mother's skin puts her in danger?

2. Why is Chapter 2 written in italics?

3. How does Ruth's friend, Frances, support her?

4. How does Peter change Ruth's life?

5. How does Betsy react to Ruth's pregnancy?

6. How does Ruth's life take a turn for the worse when the family moves to Virginia?

7. How did Ruth and her family live in America when they first arrived?

8. What does Ruth say about her parents' marriage in Chapter 3?

9. How does Sam's leaving home affect Ruth?

10. Describe the character of Daddy.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine what the following generations experienced during their time in America:

1) Ruth's grandparents

2) Ruth's parents

3) Ruth and her siblings

4) James and his siblings

Essay Topic 2

Examine how James' life compares with his mother's.

1) What individual difficulties did both characters endure?

2 How did they use their experiences in life to help one another?

Essay Topic 3

Examine James' relationship with his mother.

1) How did James' mother help him become a success in life?

2) How does James' relationship with his mother develop throughout the book?

3) Why does it become so important for James to develop a stronger relationship with his mother?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 710 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample