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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 groundbreaking piece of information does Nettie reveal to Celie in one of her letters?

2. Where does Nettie live?

3. How does Celie feel when she finds all the letters Mr. has hidden from her?

4. Where does Celie stab Mr. when he tries to stop her from going to Memphis with Shug?

5. What is the giveaway on the envelopes that they have come from Nettie, not anyone else?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Germaine, and how does Celie feel about him?

2. What coming-of-age ritual does Tashi partake in, and what is the reaction to her participation?

3. Why does Millie think Sofia is ungrateful?

4. What does Nettie do her first evening in Olinka?

5. Who are Nettie and Celie’s birth parents?

6. How did Nettie come to live in Africa?

7. What is rootleaf and why is it important to the Olinkans?

8. How does Billy get hurt on the day that Celie visits Sofia at the mayor’s house?

9. Why is Sofia’s mother’s funeral unusual?

10. What does Celie imagine that God looks like, and how does this affect her relationship with Him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the theme of fatherhood in the novel. Which character do you think is the best father in the novel? Why? Which character do you think is the worst? In what ways can you see parenting styles, specifically fatherhood, affecting characters as they mature into adulthood? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the role of women, specifically black women, in the novel. What is the expected role that these women will take on? Are there any characters that fight against this expectation? If not, why? If so, what happens to them? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

How does Nettie’s life change when she moves in with Samuel and Corinne? What suspicions do the reverend and his wife have about their new charge? How are these suspicions ultimately resolved, and how does that change Nettie’s life once again? Be sure to include examples from the text to strengthen your arguments.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 911 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample