Ellen Foster Test Questions – Flashcards
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Ellen uses different verb tenses in telling her story. When is this story taking place? How can you know?
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This story was taking place in the past because Ellen says when I was little
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Ellen says she knew her daddy was evil, but "I did not have the proof" [p. 9]. What proof does she now have?
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He lied about how Ellen's mom died
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How does Ellen feel about her Aunt Nadine and her cousin Dora?
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She thinks Nadine is a phony and Dora is spoiled brat
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What clues indicate how Ellen might regard her "new mama
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Ellen talks about pain and suffering during her days with her dad
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At the funeral, Ellen seems to survey the attendees and describe whom she sees [pp. 19-22].
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Starletta,dad,grandma
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Which characters does she seem connected to? Which disconnected from?
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Connected:dad,starletta,grandma disconnected:preacher,grandma,dad
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How does Ellen's narrative answer her own question: "Do I have to watch?" [p. 21]
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she cant help but watch
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Who is the magician? Why is he there? [p. 22]
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To comfort Ellen
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What details hint at Ellen's age?
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she can take care of herself , can wear her moms clothes , hasnt quite hit puberty , goes to school
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What transaction takes place among Ellen's father and his brothers?
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Her dad is turning the farm over to his brothers
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Ellen shops for and wraps her own Christmas presents. Why does she do this and why does she feel she has to? What does Ellen mean when she declares she was "very surprised in the spirit of Christmas" [p. 28]?
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she has never had anything for herself and was happy when she finally got something. and the joy of recieving presents on Christmas day
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Ellen's description of Starletta's home reveals much about Ellen herself. What details show her assumptions about race and class?
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Ellen thinks all blacks live in a house with several family members and that they are poor and they eat off records and that most blacks work in a cotton field
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Again, Ellen asks "Do I have to watch?" [p. 31]; she reminds herself "I could go" [p. 31], but she doesn't leave Starletta's home. Why not?
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She wants to watch
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In talking about her father and his drinking friends, what does Ellen mean when she says, "You get out before they dream about the pie and the sugar plums." [p. 37].
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to get out before they talk about prayer and abusing ellen
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What exactly are the events that cause the narrator to keep repeating "I am Ellen. I am Ellen"? [p. 38]
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her dad thinks that Ellen is his wife
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Ellen makes several moves in this chapter: to Starletta's house, to Aunt Betsy's house, finally to wherever the school is willing to send her. What is she trying to escape? What is she trying to find?
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She is trying to ecape her poor exuse of a father and is trying to find a come filled with love and compassion
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When Ellen moves in with her art teacher, Julia, and her husband, Roy, she says, "I had no idea people could live like that" [p. 47]. What way of life is she commenting upon? Does Ellen approve or disapprove?
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She finds it strange but for the most part she approves except how Roy makes his minaure
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Why do Julia, Roy, and Ellen have to go to court?
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She has to stay with family memebers
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How does Ellen's "mama's mama" compare to her "new mama"?
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Ellen says her grandmother is evil and old and mean while her new mama is nice and is a queen
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What does Ellen's description of her household tell you about her mama's background and her mama's mama's personality?
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Her mom's mom was wealthy white lady who owned slaves who lived on a cotton field and didnt like blacks . Ever since her mom died , Ellen's grandmother has treated Ellen with unessariy cruelty because she has no one to blame for her daughters death
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What does the story of Mavis and her family further reveal about Ellen's attitudes toward race? Toward family?
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Ellen's opnion of race hasn't changed but she knows what a family is supposed to be like
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Why does Ellen's mama's mama slap her [p. 69] at the news of the death of Ellen's father?
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She has no one to blame for her daughters death
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What system did Ellen's mama's mama set up to keep track of her grandchild?
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She had her other two sons to spy on Ellen .
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What reasons does Ellen's mama's mama give for treating her granddaughter so abusively?
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For how she looks and is involoved in her mothers death and how she resembled her father and was a part of her and so she would abuse Ellen because she hated her father and she was a part of him.
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When her grandmother dies, Ellen says, "The score is two to one now" [p. 80]. What does she mean?
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Ellen only lost her mom and her grandmother lost herself and Ellen's father
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Ellen describes the daily routine at her new mama's. What does this description say about the house-hold and its inhabitants?
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Its a happy household almost like a normal home
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What new understandings has Ellen come to about Starletta? How do you see this process of transformation?
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Her hair was out of her plaits and she had a growth spurt and she had a crush on a white boy named Tom
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Why does Ellen rename herself and where does the name come from?
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Ellen says that her old family wore her old name out and Foster is a fresh name.She heard they were a foster family so she changed her name to match her family name.
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What is it that Ellen find out by spying on Mavis and her family?
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She realized what a home is
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Why is it so important to Ellen that Starletta visit her for the weekend? Why is it also important that everyone in school, especially Dora, find out about it
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To prove their friendship is important and racism is pointless
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What does the Christmas scene reveal about Dora and Nadine?
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They really dont appreciate Ellen, though she has tried to be nice to them
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Why does Ellen say, "And all I wonder is why I do not hate Starletta"
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Starletta is nice to her
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How well does Ellen carry out her plan to get a new mama?
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She is a bit nervous to ring her doorbell but the lady is nice and excepts Ellen but vall country services
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What does Ellen have to "straighten out" [p. 121] with Starletta?
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Thier friendship
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On pages 125 and 126, Ellen seems to come to two very major philosophical conclusions.
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Ellen dosent have the hardest life and race dsoent matter
