View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who picks up Marlee from Sally's party?

2. What is Marlee's first idea that she comes up with to help Liz stay quiet in tense situations?

3. What is Marlee looking for that Red has in Chapter 47?

4. Marlee realizes that JT gets many of his racist ideas from which members of his family?

5. What kinds of letters does Marlee discover are being sent to the WEC when she opens mail at a meeting?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Marlee feel about Liz's budding relationship with Curtis?

2. What idea does Marlee come up with to help Liz be quiet in tense situations?

3. What does Red do at the Christmas parade that upsets Marlee?

4. What problems does Liz tell Marlee she experiences once she has to attend the Negro school in her neighborhood?

5. What idea does Ms. Winthrop bring to the WEC that the group's leaders reject?

6. What did Marlee hope would come of her writing down a Bible verse and putting it in her mother's purse?

7. Why does Liz not understand why Marlee stopped liking JT?

8. What does Marlee tell her mother when her mother comes to pick her up from Sally's roller-skating party?

9. What did Betty Jean tell Marlee about what the NAACP had advised Negroes about sending their children to private segregated schools?

10. What does Liz ask Marlee to do in exchange for Liz catching crawdads with Marlee?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Marlee's father Richard is committed to actively supporting school integration. Write an essay exploring the origins of Marlee's father's pro-integration ideas. Does his position on racial equality and issues surrounding racism change much during the course of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the book, Marlee struggles to find her voice so she can stand up for what she believes in. In contrast, Liz struggles to suppress her voice, because she finds herself in perilous situations as a young Negro girl who speaks her mind. Write an essay comparing and contrasting the nature and meaning of Marlee's and Liz's struggles.

Essay Topic 3

Levine uses the terms of the era to describe black people that are not considered acceptable today, including the words "colored" and "Negro." Levine also has several characters use the highly offensive racial slur "nigger." Write an essay analyzing the effect of the author's choice to use such a powerful word and explain how her use of the word informs the readers' perception of the characters who say it.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 884 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample