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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 is the relationship between Ginger and Cora in the book?

2. What kind of friends does Audre say told her that her blackness made her partly invisible?

3. What pressure does Audre accredit for why her relationship with Ginger couldn't last?

4. Whom does Audre describe as being a beautiful writer?

5. What is the name of the woman who Ginger begins spending time with in Chapter 19?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Audre's relationship with Bea described in the book?

2. How is the character Eudora first described in the book?

3. How is Audre's near-rape described in Chapter 23?

4. How does Audre react to her new scenery after moving to Mexico?

5. How are the "closed-shop" laws described in the book?

6. What does Audre do after finding out her father had a stroke?

7. How is the city of Cuernavaca described in the book when Audre moves there?

8. How is Audre's first time making love with Ginger described in the book?

9. How is the New York lesbian scene described in Chapter 29?

10. How does Audre's friend Lynn cause problems between her and Muriel when she moves in with them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the portrayal of education in the book and the impact it had on Audre's life. How did Audre's views towards education evolve throughout the book and what outside influences were responsible for this path?

Essay Topic 2

The theme of lesbianism is an important one in the book and helps define the protagonist more clearly.

1) What impact does Audre's poetry writing have on her ability to be open about her lesbianism for the first time, especially considering her relations with The Branded at the time?

2) What is telling of the evolution of Audre's lesbianism based on her relationships with Gennie and Muriel?

3) What role does Audre play in the New York lesbian scene and what does this community mean to her?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the portrayal of Audre's coming of age in the book. What impact did Audre's near blindness at birth and relationship with her mother have on her sexual coming of age in the book, and why is this significant?

(see the answer keys)

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